Iphone Blog Central

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

In a move that is certain to put a serious dent in the dreams of satellite radio fans, the highly desired uSirius Starplayr for the iPhone has been rejected in its current form by Apple.

In a note on their web site, NiceMac LLC says they were told the ‘application could not be approved at this time.’ Starplayr is available on other platforms, including the Mac, Windows computers and Windows Mobile phones.

The release of the player was thought to be imminent a few weeks ago, but Apple gets the final word. It may be that Sirius/XM has problems with a third party player, or AT&T may have bandwidth issues. The app was delivered to Apple for review January 31st.

The Starplayr team remains optimistic, and says they will do whatever they have to do to get the app to the iPhone. It’s all another headache for Sirius/XM fans who are also worrying whether the two merged satellite companies will survive long enough to make all the effort by NiceMac worthwhile.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

StarPlayr bounced by App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

StarPlayr bounced by App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

As a “game,” it might be questionable — it looks like there’s a lot of fudging in terms of whether or not the rope has “covered” the object, and the scoring system itself is more or less tossed in as just a reason to get you to interact with the objects. But as an app, and a demonstration of the kinds of interactivity that can be exclusive to a device like the iPhone, it comes highly recommended.

Zen Bound is available on the App Store now for $4.99.

Zen Bound arrives on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Zen Bound arrives on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Another day, another interesting iPhone/iPod touch application. Print & Share [App Store link], released a week ago, lets you print emails, mail attachments, photos, documents, contacts and web pages from your iPhone to your local printer. This works over a wireless network quite seamlessly, and can also be set up to work over the Internet if you are familiar with setting up routers and firewalls for outside access. The developer provides some help on how to do this, and has 24-hour help desk support.

The $6.99US app requires that you run a print server on your Mac or PC. The server software is a free download from the developer. System requirements are Tiger or Leopard on the Mac side; a Windows PC requires XP/Vista and may require some Windows configuration.

On the iPhone side, you need to give the app your basic email information (user names, password, incoming server info) and you’re pretty much ready to go.

Read on for more, or check the gallery…

Continue reading Print & Share for iPhone prints and shares

Print & Share for iPhone prints and shares originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Print & Share for iPhone prints and shares originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Audio, iPhone, iPod touch

AirPhones is an interesting application for your iPhone or iPod touch that turns your mobile device into a set of wireless headphones. The idea is similar to Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil, but instead of routing audio from your Mac to an Airport Express, AirPhones sends your Mac’s audio to your iPhone or touch connected to the same WiFi network.

For this to work you have to install the free Mac server application. It adds an additional output device to your Sound preferences pane. Once that’s installed on your Mac you’ll also need the mobile application (iTunes link) installed on your iPhone or iPod touch. After they’re connected through the same network, your handheld should play your Mac’s sound output.

This actually strikes me as a great idea. I spend a lot of time at my work desk listening to music through headphones and I inevitably get tangled up in the cord. My main concern, I suppose, would be running down my iPhone’s battery, but that may be worth it to get rid of that cord.

AirPhone is $4.99 from the iTunes Store. You’ll also need to download the server application from smashart. Unfortunately, the server app is Intel only, but they’re promising both a Universal binary and a Windows version in the future.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

AirPhones turns your iPhone or touch into a wireless speaker originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AirPhones turns your iPhone or touch into a wireless speaker originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Open Source, iPhone, App Store, SDK

For the past month or so, developers have been taking advantage of an opening in the iPhone SDK to enable Emoji emoticons on non-Japanese iPhones, without having to resort to jailbreaking. While I was a little taken aback by the fascination and little mini-market that sprouted up around Emoji activation, it’s clear that the public likes its icons.

Unfortunately, the Emoji free for all may be over. Gary, from Typing Genius, e-mailed us this morning and he let us know that Apple is cracking down on Emoji activation outside of Japan. According to Gary, Apple is forbidding Emoji-only apps (Emotifun and iEmoji have both been removed from the App Store) and requiring developers for apps that do more than just Emoji (like Typing Genius — iTunes link) to provide an Emoji-free update immediately.

In regards to Typing Genius, Gary says that:

* Existing Typing Genius users who have already unlocked emoji will not be affected when Apple remove apps from the App Store
* Emoji unlock will remain intact for users who upgrade to a newer version of Typing Genius (without the unlock) later on

Emoji on its way out of the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Emoji on its way out of the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Although Nevada law bans the use of “gadgets” to facilitate gambling, downloaders of the application “Card Counter” say they already have learned the trick with the help of the program and don’t need it anymore while gambling.

Card Counter is available from the App Store, and while iPhone’s use in a Casino is forbidden, you can use it with peace of mind at home to learn how to count cards.

Air Photo Wifi lets you print photos from your iPhone without having to transfer them to a computer. To do this, you need to have a ’server’ application running on your home computer. The program connects automatically to your computer, and haves it print your iPhone photos to the printer. It is simple and works very well!

A new twitter client named “Summizer” lets you follow friends’ status updates on Flickr. An interesting feature of the app is that it lets you do advanced searches on Twitter. The search feature in Twitter has been used as a news source, to follow information about very recent news that doesn’t yet make its way to the traditional media.

Summizer is available from the App Store.

Kyte offers an iPhone application framework that lets Artists create iPhone applications that include shows, news, downloads and twitter updates. This way artists can create user communities and keep them engaged by offering new content.

The application called “MultiCal” from the company iNomadics lets iPhone users use their Google Calendars on the go. Here are the features of the application according to its developer:

• No syncing required!
• No need to replace your iPhone calendar and contacts!
• Easily switch multiple accounts and calendars on or off to view only the information you need.
• View and compare multiple calendar layers to find conflicts or meeting opportunities.
• Simultaneously view co-workers, friends, family, or project calendars.

This handy application is available from the App Store for $1.99.

This has been around for some time already, but in case you don’t know, Google’s mobile app includes functionality that lets you just speak your search terms into the iPhone.

It’s fun and works most of the time! Visit the App store to download the Google Mobile app.

The web application at tinbu.com lets you search using your ZIP code to fetch the Gas stations nearby, sorted by lowest price.

Just fire your Safari and go to http://tinbu.com/iphone/gas

Last week we mentioned Camera Bag which lets you apply awesome effects to the photos you take with your iPhone. Today we came across 2 web sites that are dedicated to photos taken with Camera Bag with an iPhone. Hard to believe these awesome shots coming out of a 2 megapixel camera!

First site is Just What I See from Greg Schmigel. Greg has a great portfolio of iPhone shots, and seems to be quite famous around. Other one is Apple iPhone Photography, another dedicated portfolio of images taken by iPhone using Camera Bag. It’s fairly new, but pictures reflect the soul of the moment. Only difference between these 2 sites are that, Greg uses image manipulation, whereas Apple iPhone Photography does not touch the images before upload.

There are also iPhone dedicated Flickr groups, iPhone Photography and Camera Bag pool. Do not forget to check them out as well.

Enjoy!

gCalWall

Here we see an app with enormous potential, which has been unfortunately crippled by the limtations of the iPhone SDK.

gCalWall aims to create a ‘today’ screen for the iPhone like those found in Windows Mobile devices. As the SDK doesn’t let apps run in the background, you have to open the app to update the home screen. As the SDK doesn’t let apps change the wallpaper, you have to manually set it once it’s generated. And as the SDK doesn’t let apps access the calendar, you have to use Google Calendar so your appointments would be pulled from there.

Hopefully the SDK will give more capabilities to applications at some point so apps like this could become meaningful.

Marc Edwards is one of the well known team behind Mac Dashboard Widget aces iSlayer and iPhone development house bjango, whose apps include Jobs, Cities, Darkness, and Phases, and he was kind enough to sit down and talk App development and ecosystem with TiPb.

TiPb: Your team is famous for their Mac OS X Dashboard widgets, was developing for the iPhone really the easy transition some have suggested?

Marc: For us, yes. Our widgets have used Cocoa plugins for quite some time. A lot of widgets are straight HTML, Javascript and CSS though, which is very different to what’s needed for iPhone apps.

Was there anything substantially different about developing for the iPhone? If so, did you learn anything that you will effect your future Mac development?

The biggest lesson seems to be quality. Apple have some great bundled apps, so if you want to fit in, you’d better make sure you spend as much time as they do on the small details. The effective hit area of a human finger also means you have can only have a small number of buttons on screen at once. That keeps you on your toes—almost everything has to be contextual, which is quite different to traditional Mac development.

With some of Apple’s built in Apps, like Stocks, Weather, etc. seeming more like OS X widgets than real Apps, there was once speculation that Apple may open up a widget platform for the iPhone as well. With both WebApps and App Store apps, do you think there’s still a place for a dedicated iPhone widget development system?

There probably isn’t much point in a development platform between web apps and App Store apps… Apple can and will keep on extending WebKit, allowing for better web apps that look and behave more like App Store apps. That’s probably enough for anyone who doesn’t want to develop using Cocoa.

So the line between the two is close enough to not warrant another choice. But hey, who knows what Apple will do!

There been ongoing controversy about the App Store and how to both get exposure for apps and earn a fair living off their development. Do you think app developers are currently racing to the bottom, and pricing themselves out of business, or do you think volume and building user base will prove a viable model long term?

I don’t think pricing is as much of an issue as others seem to. We’re talking about a platform with millions of users (don’t forget iPod touch users when adding up the total). A huge portion of those users seem to buy apps.

If anything, I think we will see some more expensive apps appear, as all the small ideas get done well enough that each app type has a clear winner. Once the low hanging fruit is gone, developers will probably head towards bigger projects.

Either way, I’m not sure less than $5 is a bad pricepoint for an app. Just make sure you have a very good, very small team developing it and you’ll be fine.

Now that the numbers are approaching 10,000, what could Apple do to make iPhone apps more discoverable by end users?

Search results ordered by rankings. A “newly popular” section might work too. I think it’s going to be fairly difficult to keep iTunes as it is for music while making it work for the App Store too. I’m sure they’ll figure it out though. These kinds of things have been working well on web 2.0 sites for years.

What are your thoughts on the new “rate upon deletion” feature of iPhone OS 2.2? Is this unfair to developers who may get more negative reviews now? (fair disclosure, I’ve only give 4 and 5 star reviews to Apps I’ve deleted).

For Apple to build better search and ranking tools, they need all the good data they can get. Right now there’s a lot of fairly average apps on the store, so I don’t see how rate upon deletion should be something any decent developer should worry about.

I’ve also rated some apps well on deletion. Maybe a rate after 20th launch would be good too, although you don’t want it to get in the way too much.

Thanks Marc, we really appreciate your taking the time!

bjango is the website, and the apps are all available via the iPhone App Store (iTunes Link)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Interview: bjango’s (and iSlayer’s) Marc Edwards on the Mac to iPhone Transition and the App Store Outlook

Following the speculation, the turning of the final Macworld Keynote over to VP Phil Schiller, and an unprecedented open letter to the Apple community on his health, Steve Jobs today sent out word to Apple employees that he was taking a leave of absence from the company he co-founded. Text via Engadget:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

Needless to say, everyone here at TiPb wishes Steve Jobs a fast and full recovery.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Steve Jobs Takes Leave of Absence From Apple

CLICK HERE TO GO LIVE!

We missed iPhone Live! last week due to the hectic pace imposed by Macworld and CES, so just like last time when yours truly invaded Phone different, this time Phone different is invading iPhone Live!

Join me in joining TiPb’s editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, and editor-emeritus, Mike Overbo, for a special Macworld-roundup edition of Phone different on iPhone Live tonight at 8pm EST.

And did we mention we’ll be giving away one of the custom TiPb branded Element Cases to one lucky live chatter? That’s right. Get the details tonight via:

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/live/

See ya there!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Phone different Goes iPhone Live! Tonight at 8pm EST + Win an Element Case!

The New York Times (via Daring Fireball) provided some additional information on Steve Jobs’ health, and the possible reason behind the announcement today that he was taking a leave of absence from Apple:

Two people who are familiar with Mr. Jobs’s current medical treatment said he was not suffering from a recurrence of cancer, but a condition that was preventing his body from absorbing food. Doctors have also advised him to cut down on stress, which may be making the problem worse, these people said.

Again, we here at TiPb wish Steve Jobs and his family the very best. Get well soon.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Steve Jobs Not Absorbing Food, Needs to Reduce Stress

What finally made Apple and Steve Jobs relent on their previously locked-in-stone $0.99 single price for single songs iTunes business model? Many suspected it was the lure of DRM-free music, which the record labels (except EMI) had been withholding from Apple and providing competitors like Amazon MP3 in an attempt to break the iTunes juggernaut.

Maybe not, however, according to Ars Technica (referencing the Associated Press):

the key negotiating component was over-the-air downloads for the iPhone. The record companies held out on allowing users to download songs on the 3G and EDGE networks (instead of just WiFi) until Apple relented.

While this might seem strange, technically many users probably don’t care (or don’t even know about DRM) unless they run into the old 5-machine limit or try to move their protected music outside the iPod ecosystem. However, anyone hitting the iTunes icon on the iPhone and getting the message to switch to WiFi likely suffers a bad user experience. Then again, strange is normal in a strange industry filled with strange old media dinosaurs, innit?

Higher prices, according to the article, are also intended to make discounted song bundles seem like better values.

How important is 3G or EDGE downloads to you? Worth the potential cost bump for premium “hot” singles? Mitigated at all by the thought of cheapo bundles of the same? Let us know!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTunes: Variable Pricing Was Cost of Over the Air Downloads?

So Macworld 2009 has come and gone. Sad, yes we all know. Although, that does not mean all of the special deals that were going on at the show are gone! One of discounts still floating around comes to us from RichardSolo.

Are you someone who has issues with your iPhone not having enough battery life to last you a full day? Well here is a option that you may be interested in. Enter the RichardSolo 1800, battery back up. From now until January 30th, enter coupon code ‘Macworld’ at checkout and you will get $20 off your very own RichardSolo 1800 which retails for a cool $69.99.

Now we’re introducing our newest backup battery, using Apple’s proprietary connector: the rechargeable RichardSolo 1800 Battery — just snap it on and it begins to charge instantly. It is certified both “Works with iPhone” and “Made for iPod”, and for both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G.

For full details of this handy device be sure to keep an eye out for Rene’s review coming soon!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

RichardSolo Macworld Discount Still Valid

So if you are a Twitter user, and follow the Dev Team (@iphone_dev), you may have noticed an interesting early hour post. So it begins, all of the crazy rumors on what this new code word means. Rumors and speculation all set aside, our very own Rene, had a very good idea… iPod touch 2G Jailbreak perhaps?

It seemed like the iPod touch was being left behind ever since iPhone 3G was released. Most likely due to the Dev Team putting all of their effort into a iPhone 3G unlock. Which is very much appreciated and a good thing for all of you iPhone owners out there. For you iPod Touch owners out there, we’ve heard rumblings that redsn0w will drop on or around January 30. So sit tight for a few more weeks.

For more information about @redsn0w be sure to follow it via Twitter!

The cat and mouse game continues on!

[Thanks for the tips - Scott, jamesus, and Rene!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Dev-Teams Latest Jailbreak Project: redsn0w for iPod touch 2G

First, thanks again to Element Case for the awesome TiPb branded casing nirvana (see Jeremy’s review) they provided for us to pass along to you, our readers. Second, thanks very much to everyone who participated in our first 2 (of a total 3 — 1 more still to come!) Element Case give-away’s!

Give away #1 involved heading over to our forums and telling us why YOU needed Element Case-caliber for your iPhone. Many of you shared great, funny, sad, and in some cases inspiring stories. Everyone who shared got an entry, and from all those eligible entries we got our first winner:

• pnut78!

Give away #2 was for those of you who joined us in the chat room for iPhone Live! We gave you a secret code word and you emailed it to us. Everyone who emailed the code word got an entry, and from those eligible entries, we got our second winner:

• Matt Sawyers!

Congrats to both of you! We’ll contact you directly to arrange delivery of your custom TiPb Element Case, and everyone else — keep your eyes peeled because we still have one (1) case left to give away!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

And Element Case Give Aways #1 and #2 Go To…

It’s easy to get overwhelmed these days with the avalanche of information about how to get fit, take care of your body, live longer, live better, eat better, and so on. Diets come and go, new fitness machines are peddled faster than you can say “infomercial” and Chuck Norris’ age seems to be the only constant.

It may be easy, then, to ignore the brain and forget the old adage ”mind over matter.” Without the mind, it won’t really matter. The folks at lumosity.com understand the importance of exercising your brain and have a scientifically-proven method for doing so. Fortunately, exercising your brain doesn’t require expensive equipment or hauling around heavy workout apparatus - if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and can summon the physical strength to tap the glass, you can start exercising your brain now with their app, Speed Brain.

How does Speed Brain work? Read on after the break!

Speed Brain quickens the mind through a series of matching or mismatched images that the user must then quickly react and identify matching images in quick succession. Accuracy and speed will produce a higher score, which will be saved to monitor your progress and for comparison with your friends who are also using Speed Brain.

The interface is very simple and easy to use. As the images flash in front of you, just select “No Match” or “Match” as quickly as you can. You receive instant feedback when a selection is correct or incorrect, and the goal, of course, is to get as many correct as possible using the least amount of time you can to react and tap.

From my own experience after using Speed Brain over the course of several days, I have improved my time, accuracy and score. I can make decisions more quickly with respect to the symbol matching or not matching the previous symbol. Just moments ago, I used Speed Brain and was 100% accurate in my matching. Now, the challenge will be to consistently produce 100% accuracy in matching while getting it done faster and faster. 

For only .99 cents in the App Store, Speed Brain from Lumosity is not a bad way to go if you want to dust off the cobwebs and keep your brain in tip-top shape. Check out their website here and give Speed Brain a try!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Speed Brain for the iPhone: Exercise Your Brain!

Silicone Valley Insider:

Janis Krums from Sarasota, Florida posts the first photo of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on Twitter from his iPhone.

We’ve discussed before how, quality not withstanding, the iPhone is Flickr’s most popular camera. We’ve also seen the reach and immediacy of Twitter report and engage with news around the world faster and from more perspectives than traditional corporate news machines have ever been able to do. What happens when these new media devices and networks meet? Maybe what was discussed in Leo Laporte’s Macworld 2009 feature presentation.

Paradigms shift. It happened with telegraph, with radio, with television, with satellite… is it happening again with the iPhone and Twitter?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Breaking News in the ’09s: iPhone and Twitter

Now this is not something new here, but AT&T and American Idol are at it again. The past few days AT&T has been sending out text messages advertising one of Fox’s TV shows. How do I know? I got one of them… Of course this message does not cost the recipient anything and they could easily opt out by responding to the spam with a simple “stop”. Even so, it still has the ability to be bothersome to AT&T customers.

Like I mentioned above this is not something new, I remember getting a similar text message last year when American Idol started. It would become a nuisance if it started to get out of control but a single text, I can live with that. Now imagine this — all TV shows start advertising this way, then add movies, random products, etc… Sounds like this has the possibility to become very annoying sometime in the future.

If what I just mentioned turned out to be the case, would you be able to opt out all together? Would you have to opt out on individual advertisements as they are received? We want to know what is your, our readers, take on all of this?

Sound off in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

American Idol Spam Text Messages on AT&T

Welcome to iPhone 101, TiPb’s single point of success for new iPhone users, and for veterans who know new users and need a quick and helpful place to point them. This time we’re going to take a look at how to personalize your iPhone with a different — even custom — wallpaper of your own choosing, including your own photos and artwork.

We’ll show you how, after the break.

Wallpaper Settings

Begin from your iPhone’s home screen. If you’re not on the home screen, just press the big button on the bottom of your iPhone, then tap the Settings icon (default location is on the first Home screen, right hand side in the middle). At the bottom of the Settings screen will be the Wallpaper option.

Tap on Wallpaper and a set of galleries will slide across into view.

The topmost gallery is chock full of Apple provided wallpapers, focused on organic imagery including flowers, insects, rocks, trees, etc., as well as famous works of art, and a few patterns. (See the screenshot at the top of this how-to)

Below the default gallery is a list topped off by your Camera Roll (any pictures you’ve taken with your iPhone camera), and Photo Library, which includes every other picture currently stored on your iPhone (synced from your PC or Mac via iTunes).

Lastly are all the individual photo galleries, if any, listed by name. This can be a quicker way to find a specific photo in your library, provided you remember in which gallery you’ve filed it.

Choosing Your Wallpaper

To pick your wallpaper, starting by choosing one of the photo galleries outlined above. This will bring up a series of thumbnails containing all the images in the chosen gallery. If there are too many thumbnails to fit on a single screen, you can swipe up or down to navigate through them.

When you find the photo or image you want, tap on it. A full screen preview will slide up.

From this screen, you can scale the image by touching two fingers to the screen and pinching them together (to shrink it) or spreading them apart (to grow it).

If the image is larger than the iPhone’s display (320 pixels wide by 480 pixels high in portrait mode), or you’ve zoomed in on it, you can also touch one finger to the screen and move it around to slide the image into exactly the right position (for example, to center a face in a photograph).

To return the image to it’s original size and re-center it, just double tap the screen.

Setting Your Wallpaper

When you’ve got the image just the way you want it, tap the Set Wallpaper button on the bottom right and the next time you wake your iPhone, your new wallpaper will leap up to greet you.

Quick Tip: Setting Your Wallpaper From the Photo App

We’ve shown you before how to email a picture from within the Photo viewer. The same process can be used to quickly set any picture you’re currently looking at as the default wallpaper, simply select the Use As Wallpaper option instead.

Looking for More Wallpapers?

Now that you know how to change your wallpaper, maybe you’re looking for some images to try out? Look no further than TiPb’s iPhone Forum, where our resident super-moderator Bad Ash kicked off a thread now containing a veritable gold-mine of wallpapers. And if you have any trouble, it’s the perfect place to ask questions and get some personalized help. You can even share some favorite wallpapers of your own!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 101: How to Change Your iPhone Wallpaper

Head over to Apple.com yet today? If you haven’t seen it already, a new hero image has taken it’s place boom smack in the middle of the home page and it’s announcement couldn’t be more mind-boggling: the App Store now includes over 15,000 iPhone applications, and iPhone users have downloaded apps more that 500,000,000 times.

Considering the App Store only launched 6 months ago, we’re reminded of what Steve Jobs said last quarter — that, in all his time at Apple, they’d never seen platform growth or attachment rates this fast and this furious.

How many apps do you think you’ve downloaded?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple: 15,000 iPhone Apps, Half a Billion Downloads

So once again AT&T seems to be having issues. TiPb reported on the two previous outages, which seemed to affect a much larger area then the current outage.

I read one report of someone in Philadelphia on the forums today, did not think much of it until I read a post on BGR just now. According to a BGR tipster this outage is affecting Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. It is creating the inability to hear the party on the other end of the line during outbound and inbound calls. Data at this point does not seem to be affected.

AT&T is said to be well aware of the situation and is working on getting it back up to be fully operational. So just how many of our readers are currently having issues? Anyone?

[Via BGR]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Outage: AGAIN!?

Warning: Video possibly NSFW-ish. If bikini bouncing will get you in trouble, stay clear.

We previously mentioned in passing that Apple had rejected iBoobs, an iPhone app that presented accelerometer-powered cartoon jiggling. Apparently this crossed even the (sigh) fart app line. Well, the Register says Wobble decided to get around this by not providing any built in booty, cartoon or otherwise. All it does is enable user-definable “wobble” zones in ANY photo or image. We’re guessing that while the above video makes the real focus clear enough, Wobble was likely submitted to Apple with more innocuous images, like jello or cartoon puppies or what not.

As such, Wobble is now one of the more than 15,000 apps available via the iTunes App Store. You buying it? Protesting it? Protesting out loud while nonchalantly hitting the download link?

And guys, before you get too jiggly with it, just imagine what the ladies might do in Wobble revenge…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Sneaky iPhone Developer Wobbles Around Apple’s “Boob” Ban

With built-in YouTube, SlingMedia Player in the works, and now Ustream announcing an iPhone viewer, is Flash still going to dominate most-wanted lists, or is Apple actually halting Adobe’s video advance? We don’t know, but we do know we’re really excited by the mobile video options we’re already seeing:

Ustream has developed an application for the 3G iphone that allows you to watch Ustream anywhere w/everyone. Regardless of where you are at and what you are doing, you can choose to be in the moment with others in a shared live experience around a live event. If you are out-on-the-town and know that a guest speaker at a major conference is “going live” and want to watch live and be-in-the-crowd, then you can with this application. You will be able to watch the Inauguration LIVE on Ustream with chat.

If Apple approves the Ustream Viewer in time, who’ll be watching?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Ustream iPhone Viewer’s Inaugural Debut

Reader Jose wrote in to tell us that MMS has finally come to the iPhone! Er… Sorta:

since yesterday, vodafone Portugal has a MMS app for the iPhone! It looks like the mail app and it works very well! It’s awesome, you can send and recieve MMS.. but it only works on iPhones from vodafone Portugal! It’s called iMMS!

We’ve heard about European-localized iPhone MMS apps before, but this appears to be the first on to actually become officially available [iTunes Portugal App Store Link].

Full screenshot gallery after the break, but we gotta ask: anyone here want a version for their country?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iMMS Comes to the iPhone… in Portugal!

Here we have Gathorc, Dwarf Paladin from the Skullcrusher server
(Gathorc gives a big shout-out to Guild Benevolent!). Sure, he’s one of those annoying Alliance toons, but nevertheless to our eyes he’s definitely got some bragging rights: getting exalted with Stormpike takes some serious grinding time, maxing out Herbalism is nothing to sniff at, and check out the list-o-purple, below!

If you have no idea what the previous paragraph is getting at, move along, nothing to see here. If you’re proud of your World of Warcraft Toon and want to be able to show it off on the go, might we recommend our favorite of the iPhone WoW apps, Warcraft Characters (iTunes link, Free).

You can search by character name without having to specify your server, get full views of Basic info, Stats, Combat Stats, Gear, and Reputation, and of course save your favorites to more easily show them off.

Because, honestly, we know that you can’t stop thinking about WoW and are going to bring it up the next time we’re out — you may as well have the ability to explain why in the name of the Earthmother you spec’d your Tauren Hunter Marksman instead of Beastmaster. Seriously, don’t you read BigRedKitty?

Small gallery after the break!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: Warcraft Characters

• Our podcast feed
• Download Directly
• Subscribe via iTunes

Rene joins Mike and Dieter to talk about all thing Macworld and also the latest iPhone news. Listen in!

Background Reading

• TiPb at Macworld 2009 Keynote Live Blog!
  • Macworld 2009 Keynote Photos
  • Macworld: New iLife iPhoto 09 Integrates Slide Shows for iPhone
  • Macworld: Apple Announces Keynote Remote App for the iPhone
  • Macworld: Direct Music Downloads for the iPhone via 3G (Updated: and EDGE!)
  • Macworld: iTunes Goes DRM FREE!
• Macworld: SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone Demo Video
• Macworld Expo Galleries
  • Day 1 Gallery
  • Day 2 Apps and Devs Gallery
  • Day 2 Accessories Gallery
  • Day 2 Redux Gallery
• Leo Laporte-Note Live-to-Post Blog
  • Leo Laporte-Note Gallery
• Macworld 2010 Offering Free Registration
• Will Apple go to CES 2010 Instead?

News

• TiPb Still Predicting iPhone HD: Now with More PowerVR and Quad Core!
• Confirmed-ish: iPhone Product Cycle = June
• Google Shows How To Quickly Archive Gmail on the iPhone
• Apple Approves 3rd Party WebKit Browsers for the iPhone
• Rumor AT&T Reducing Tethering Charge to $10
• MORE iPhone nano rumors: in June, not in the USA.
• Apple Q1 Conference Call Next Wednesday - iPhone Live! to Follow
• Microsoft’s Ballmer No Longer Laughing at iPhone
• Palm Pre-Free Zone this Week

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat, or sent in questions!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy

via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Live Episode 5

The iPhone and Twitter go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Okay, maybe not, but they’re both darlings of the weberatti and enjoy popularity, prestige and — when it comes to the App Store — a growing plethora of choice combinations.

One such iPhone Twitter app enjoying attention lately is atebit’s Tweetie, now on release 1.2. The nice thing for iPhone tweeters is that each Twitter client seems to focus on something different, giving us a good amount of diversity and choice. Tweetie, for example, excels at functionality. You can do a lot with it, perhaps more than any other Twitter client currently shipping. What kind of functionality? Where do I start!

Not only can you create an account, you can create multiple accounts. Awesome for those who want to tweet under, say, a personal name, a blog name, a work name, and a club name, for example.

Once logged in you can see Tweets, which includes all the posts of those you follow, Replies, which includes @(username) posts flagged your way, messages, which includes direct (private) posts just to you, Favorites, which are any posts you’ve flagged with a star, and More, which includes additional options.

Tweets

In Tweet view you can scroll to the top if you tap the title bar, just like in Safari. From there you can hit the inline refresh button to get the latest updated. If you get to the end and of the list want to see older tweets, you can tap on Load More.

To write a tweet, tap the new tweet button (looks like the new message button in Mail, but is top right in this interface).

Tap on a Tweet and you get a single-screen view of it along with an info button to see the user’s profile, and if it was a reply, a button at the end of the tweet to follow it back up-stream. Handy feature that.

For quick actions, you can swipe from left to right over it to reveal Reply, User, and Star controls.

Favorite’ing

Simplest first: Star lets you toggle on or off favorite status for the tweet.

Replying

Reply will open a new Tweet composer with an @(username) at the ready, as well as buttons to attach a photo or share location. (If you’re a new user, Tweetie like any other location-aware app will ask permission to use your location several times — and you can always revoke that permission later if you become concerned). If you choose to cancel, you also get the option to save a tweet-in-progress as a draft — very nice.

User Info

The user screen gives you an amazing amount of options: you see the @(username), the number of followers, the profile description, and web URL, and can follow or stop following right there. Beneath the general info are options to view Recent Tweets, to Search Twitter for that @(username)’s replies, to see who they’re Following and who their Followers are, to Send a Public Reply (@ reply), to Send a Direct Message, and to Block and Unblock a user.

Replies

The Reply tab is similar to the Tweet tab but constrains the list to those who have sent you @ replies.

Messages

Messages lets you see any tweets sent directly and privately to you, or conversely private messages you sent directly to others. Unfortunately and counter-intuitively, you can’t swipe on direct messages to reveal the same controls you get when you swipe on a tweet — please add this feature! You can hit the Reply button at top right, but there’s no “d (username)” that typically signifies a direct message, and the lack of a visual cue makes me paranoid that I may be responding to someone else, or to the public. You can also tap on the message itself to reveal the single message view (along with the option to Mail Link to this Tweet), and the tiny info button top right to load the user profile.

Favorites

Favorite view constrains the list to only your starred (favorite’d) tweets.

More

More gives you a metric ton of additional features, including your Profile, the ability to Go to a User, a list of other twitter users Nearby (based on location), popular keyword Trends on Twitter at the moment, and the ability to Search Twitter. Some of these are really nice to have, though both Profile and Go to User failed for me when I tried them.

Options

Some of the finest — and foulest — Tweetie functionality is hidden away in the iPhone Settings panel. Exit Tweetie and hop over there to change the default Theme (bubbles is currently the only alternative), increase the font size, and toggle Display Name between full and screen names,

If you use Instapaper and want to save web pages for later viewing, you can toggle support on for that as well.

Advanced settings let you turn Multiple Accounts on and off, control Image Compression via a slider, toggle Landscape Keyboard (which is a full screen landscape keyboard, but the app only remains in landscape when it brings up the keyboard. I’m not a big fan of the landscape keyboard in general, but for those who like it, this alone is a killer feature.

Popularity Enhancer is either a stroke of comedic genius, or is just a really sad essay on the state of the App Store. Suffice it to say, if you loves you some flashlight and fart sounds, turn this sucker on.

Lastly, you can set the amount of tweets that Tweetie loads at launch, either making it start faster, or with a greater amount of data.

Conclusion

Tweetie is simply the most functional Twitter client I’ve used to date. However, functionality does not always equal usability. Many software designers will tell you what is left out is at least — if not more — important than what is put in. Tweetie doesn’t fall victim to this completely, but all that functionality does come at the expense of some usability and discoverability. Some users will inevitably prefer simpler, easier to use clients. Others will simply enjoy the power Tweetie provides.

At $2.99, it’s more expensive than the free Twitter clients but considerably cheaper than other, paid clients (which can reach $9.99). For my money, the feature set alone makes it a must-have for serious iPhone Twitter users.

If they could make it a tad more consistent (i.e. swipe private messages the way you can tweets), and really give it WebApp class features (can I delete a Tweet? I can do that on the web, couldn’t find a way on Tweetie), it would be darn-near invaluable.

Pros

• Supports Multiple Accounts
• Incredible Feature Set
• Can has fart sounds

Cons

• User experience could be more consistent
• Can has fart sounds

TiPb Review Rating

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Review: Tweetie Twitter Client for the iPhone

iPhone Shield Polycarbonate+ Microfiber Cleaning Cloth, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Iphoneblogger/~3/WdsovqDoX-U/iphone-shield-polycarbonate-microfiber.html, iPhone News Blog | New iphone applications, Apple iPhone rumors, ,
The SHIELD is the Ultimate iphone 3G Polycarbonate case providing unparalleled comfort and feel while providing your iphone with the ultimate protection from scratch and slip resistance. Protect your…



[[ This is a content summary only. Visit iphoneBlogger.com for full links, other content, and more! ]],
Go to Source

Facing App Store limbo, StarPlayr developers give up and go home, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/08/facing-app-store-limbo-starplayr-developers-give-up-and-go-home/,

Filed under: Bad Apple, iPhone, App Store

Last November, as visions of cranberries and turkey danced in our heads, the first tidbits about a forthcoming Sirius/XM app for the iPhone began to emerge on the Howard Stern fan forums. In January, the satellite radio player’s name and details were confirmed — StarPlayr was on the way from NiceMac.

Two weeks ago, word arrived from NiceMac that the app was neither approved nor rejected by Apple… perhaps keeping it out of the way of an official Sirius app rumored last week. No independent developer wants to be in this no-app’s-land between approval on the store and a branded app around the corner, so you can probably guess what happens next.

Early this morning, a blog post on the starplayr.com site confirmed what many of us expected: NiceMac is abandoning development of the StarPlayr app, not only on the iPhone but on Windows Mobile as well. Refunds for WinMo licensees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until NiceMac runs out of cash.

It’s a sad and frustrating outcome, not only for the hardworking team behind StarPlayr but also for the eager fans who were ready to lay down their cash for the app. Without some sort of advance roadmap for internal/partner projects from Apple, or a published list of ‘no-go zones’ for third party developers to stay clear of the official-app juggernaut, this is going to happen again. I understand that competitive pressures may force Apple to keep licensing and development deals under wraps — chances are, the team answering emails in Developer Relations has no idea what’s in the works up in the executive offices — but there’s got to be a way to avoid this deep chill on innovation and investment from third-party devs.

Update: As some commenters have pointed out, the back-end infrastructure of StarPlayr is being shut down, which will disable the WinMo version of the app. This points strongly towards Sirius/XM, and not Apple, as the Big Bad in this scenario.

Thanks Jim

Facing App Store limbo, StarPlayr developers give up and go home originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Facing App Store limbo, StarPlayr developers give up and go home originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

Missing Card trick will leave some mystified, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/08/missing-card-trick-will-leave-some-mystified/,

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Another day, another cool trick makes it to the iPhone/iPod touch. Today it’s the Missing Card [App Store Link] for US $0.99.

The effect is that a small group of picture cards are displayed on the iPhone. You are asked to think of one, but not indicate which one you have chosen, and no tapping on the card on the iPhone screen so people don’t think that is the secret. There is some nice animation as the cards flip over and one is removed. All the cards are face down. You are asked to reveal your card, and all the cards are turned over but one. Your card is no longer in the group.

It’s a nice trick, and an old one. It’s generally knows as the Princess Card trick, and after years of being a mainstay for magicians it made it to the web and was widely seen in a number of variations.

This is a nice version of the effect, and the animation is smooth and attractive. My only criticisms are that the magician gets no credit for the trick. it appears that the phone is doing all the heavy lifting. Also, the card left over, the face down one, can’t be revealed. I think there are some ways to deal with that if the developer takes the trouble to work it out.

For people who have not seen the trick, it will be a stunner. It’s a good little diversion to try in a bar or a party. If you think the secret is too widespread, this is not the trick for you. If the description seems fresh, give it a try on your friends or co-workers.

Missing Card trick will leave some mystified originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Missing Card trick will leave some mystified originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

ShiveringKittens app to pass on $1 from each sale to ASPCA, In what is believed to be a first (hopefully not the last), proceeds from app sales will be going to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

iPhone app developers of ShiveringKittens will donate $1 from every sale to the organization. It’s a very cool, grand gesture (and news worthy to [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/shiveringkittens-app-to-pass-on-1-from-each-sale-to-aspca/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

App Store approval - just a roll of the dice perhaps?, Many have wondered how the approval process for the App Store actually works. Is it one person, or is a team of people who may not share the same standards for what should be in or out of the Store?

Turns out, there’s some evidence for the latter of those two. Several sites have quoted [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/app-store-approval-just-a-roll-of-the-dice-perhaps/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

BGR reports Verizon may be dipping their toes into the iPhone waters, A Verizon Wireless service-cancellation survey, spotted by BGR (Boy Genius Report), suggests a leading cause for ditching Verizon is the iPhone. But that’s not all it suggests. It could suggest a major coup coming in the iPhone world.

Two of the questions—”What is the primary reason you left?” and “What is the primary reason you chose [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/bgr-reports-verizon-may-be-dipping-their-toes-into-the-iphone-waters/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

Scramble Live lets iPhone and Facebook users compete against each other, Zynga has released a new Boogle-like game called Scramble Live, and the tech itself could cause huge ripples in the iPhone marketplace with its unique technology.

There’s a Facebook module running with over a million users, and this one will let you compete real-time against iPhone and Facebook people. It’ll allow you to hook up and [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/scramble-live-lets-iphone-and-facebook-users-compete-against-each-other/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

Have fun with MadLibs for the iPhone on Cydia, MadLibs have been around forever, and have been a party staple for young and old for a number of years. Nothing beats the joy of plugging silly random words into a straight-up story.

MadLibs is an application that is exactly that: Mad Libs on your iPhone and/or iPod Touch. The object of the application is to [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/have-fun-with-madlibs-for-the-iphone-on-cydia/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

The Year of the App Store: Highlight and Lowlights via Lifehacker, Lifehacker has published a detailed and interesting read about the first year of the App Store, its successes, failures and exciting apps released, and not quite so exciting.

Highlights include Mint.com, Kindle for the iPhone, Evernote (the most complete note app for the iPhone) and Wikipanion, the Wikipedia search program for the smartphone.
Lowlights include Apple’s own [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/the-year-of-the-app-store-highlight-and-lowlights-via-lifehacker/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

Cydia opening its own jailbreak “App Store”, Cydia has been the hub of the iPhone gray market for some time now, but developer Jay Freeman is planning on turning the jailbroken app manager into a questionably licit competitor to the App Store. Will Apple do something about this? We’ll see, it appears.

Converting Cydia into a proper application store won’t be complicated, and [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/cydia-opening-its-own-jailbreak-app-store/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

Need to sync your iPhone with Linux? Now you can (again), Linux has been slowly gaining a little traction as a Windows alternative, but Apple seems to not like Linux all that much.

Since firmware 2.0 or so, wireless syncing with Linux and the iPhone have stopped working, and much sadness was felt in the Linux world.
But now there’s been a workaround published by Ubuntu users [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/need-to-sync-your-iphone-with-linux-now-you-can-again/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

UStream iPhone Video broadcasting app released for jailbroken phones, It’s not quite the App Store, but Ustream’s broadcasting app is here on jailbroken iPhones. It joins Qik, which already does more or less the same thing.

Ustream’s plan is still to get the app on the official App Store, which would make it much, much more accessible to the general public. The good news is [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/ustream-iphone-video-broadcasting-app-released-for-jailbroken-phones/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

The iPhone App Store hits 25,000 app mark, It’s been just a year since the iPhone App Store was first announced – though it wasn’t until a few months later that it opened for business.

And it’s now being reported that the number of apps approved for the store has passed the 25,000 mark.
There are now more iPhone OS apps than Windows Mobile [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/the-iphone-app-store-hits-25000-app-mark/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

Paid version of AIM released for iPhone, An update for AIM was released last week for the free version, which brings several new features to the instant messaging application.

AOL has now released a paid version that is available with a price tag of $2.99. Other than the removal of ads and a purple icon (versus a red icon for the free [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/paid-version-of-aim-released-for-iphone/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

Some iPhones devs need to renew contracts, could be sent packing, On the one-year anniversary of third-party iPhone app development, developers need to renew their contracts to avoid having their software pulled from the App Store but are facing difficulties in getting Apple to cooperate in time.

People familiar with Apple’s year-long contracts say that developers who started work in March 2008 have been told they would [...], http://www.iphonestalk.com/some-iphones-devs-need-to-renew-contracts-could-be-sent-packing/, http://www.iphonestalk.com/feed/, iPhones Talk, http://www.iphonestalk.com/wp-content/themes/iphone/images/logo.jpg,

The TiPb forums continue to grow and more and more good threads are popping up. Here are some of the latest from the forums today!

Most of you purchased an iPhone 3G for the 3G service alone correct? Well how fast or slow has your 3G data been for you? For all of us here data has been nothing short of spectacular, while some of our readers have not had such luck. How about you?

Now I know this next thread has been featured in the past on the front page but… more and more people keep asking about battery life. There is not a better thread on our forums than this one right here: Battery Life. So if you are wondering about the battery or simply want some good battery saving tips, do not hesitate to check that thread out!

This next thread was started by forum member, Exbbuser. You have to love all the Ex-CrackBerry users that we have gotten the past few months but that’s another thread. This thread is straight forward, what are your top 5 must have legit App Store apps?

The final thread for today comes to us from forum reviewer, msbaylor, iPhone Ringtones. This thread is simply for posting ringtones that you use with your iPhone to share with all of the forum members. Keep in mind the ringtones must be posted in the .m4r file format only and you must have a minimum post count of 10 to be able to attach files.

So what are you waiting for? Get in on some forum action! Start by registering, it’s free and easy to do.

See you on the forums!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

From the Forums: Your 3G Speed, Battery Life, Top 5 Must Have Apps, iPhone Ringtones

No sooner did we report the outlandish statement from Palm backer Elevation Partners head-geek Roger McNamee that come June, every iPhone 2G owner would ditch the platform and AT&T to become Pre-verts on Sprint, than our sibling site PreCentral.net went and updated.

Seems McNamee thinks iPhone Mobile Safari ain’t all that, compared to the Pre (even though the Pre uses Apple’s open-source WebKit foundation — which we know comes from KHTML/Konquerer…):

“Our product is just going to run rings around them on the web. If you want to go the web, it’s going to be a million time faster, well, not a million times, several times faster and that’s a huge deal for most people.”

Really? And since Sprint can’t do simultaneous voice and data, the minute you answer a call, your speed drops to zero. How much faster is that?

Apparently, however, McNamee’s hurt turns to heart for Apple’s Mac platform:

I’ve been an apple fan for years and I would never use any other kind of computer!

Bulletin: Some may just feel the same about the iPhone, b’okay Roger? See the whole crash-and-burn on video at Bloomberg…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

CEOh-Snap Daily Double! Palm’s McNamee Hurts iPhone but Hearts Mac

Our best frenemy forever, CrackBerry.com’s Kevin sent us word that Canadians currently excluded from all the Amazon Kindle E-Book app goodness may just have an alternative. Seems Chapters/Indigo (think Barnes and Nobles with maple syrup, eh?) is getting into the game, and onto the devices, with a new service called Shortcovers.

While Kevin was sickened by the prominence of the iPhone in the above video, we thought it was fantastic. (And if the fugly look of the BlackBerry app compared to the hot sexay of the iPhone version is any indication of how this whole BlackBerry App World vs. iPhone App Store sitch will work out for RIM…)

Any of our readers to the north going to check it out?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Shortcovers a Kindle/E-Book Competitor for Canadians?

Sponsored Post: SmoothTalker Charging Holder/Cradle with Antenna Connection for iPhone 3G

Smoothtalker holders are iPhone 3G specific and keeps your battery charged. These are not universal holders that have spring loaded phone grippers or require fidgeting to fit the cellular phone in the holder.

Smoothtalker phone holders and cradles provide a secure and convenient place to place the phone while driving and allow use with any bluetooth or wired headset or bluetooth hands free kit. Smoothtalker car phone holders are compatible with Motorola hands free kits and headsets, Parrot hands free kits and headsets, and all other makes of bluetooth headset or car kit for use with any cell phone or smartphone.

This cradle is designed to conveniently plug directly into any cigarette lighter power source and allows the convenience of mounting in a convenient location away from the power source.This holder has an external antenna connector with an FME male end.

SmoothTalker Charging Holder/Cradle with Antenna Connection for iPhone 3G is available via TiPb’s iPhone Store.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Sponsored Post: SmoothTalker Charging Holder/Cradle with Antenna Connection for iPhone 3G

Locating Songs, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Iphoneblogger/~3/Jba4Dz1v77A/locating-songs.html, iPhone News Blog | New iphone applications, Apple iPhone rumors, ,
With so many songs on your iPod, finding a particular one can very difficult. use this tips to organizes your music.

By album:

1. Select the Music item from the iPod main menu.
Scroll the main menu…



[[ This is a content summary only. Visit iphoneBlogger.com for full links, other content, and more! ]],
Go to Source

Cydia Store now open for jailbreak app sales, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/09/cydia-store-now-open-for-jailbreak-app-sales/,

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, Jailbreak/pwnage

As previously reported, users of jailbroken phones and the developers who cater to them now have an avenue for commerce in apps: the Cydia Store. Smoking Apples visits the store and has a solid rundown, noting that Amazon Payments is the only funding source for the moment (PayPal is on the way, says Cydia lead Saurik/Jay Freeman). Users who update to the latest version of Cydia on their phones get the store capability automatically; if your phone isn’t already jailbroken, though, you’ll have to jailbreak it and install Cydia.

The limited number of apps on the store versus the overwhelming bounty of the official App Store may help users find the apps they truly want, says SA. Freeman has a list of apps queued up for release over the next few weeks before he begins accepting unsolicited submissions.

If the functionality you want and need is uncertain or unlikely to show up in the App Store (*ahem* — tethering, anyone?), would you jailbreak your phone and buy from the Cydia Store?

Cydia Store now open for jailbreak app sales originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cydia Store now open for jailbreak app sales originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

iPhone app phones home to foil pirates, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/09/iphone-app-phones-home-to-foil-pirates/,

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, Jailbreak/pwnage

Like many iPhone developers, Ben Chatelain is frustrated to see cracked versions of his project, Full Screen Web Browser, showing up online. Following the usability suggestions of John Gruber, Ben has chosen to do something about it. The latest version of his app has detection capabilities for pirated instances, and reports the UUID of the device back to his server. After 10 days of running a cracked version, users are presented with a “trial over” dialog box and given the option to buy up to the legitimate version.

As antipiracy measures go, this is about as benign as you can get, and it’s in good alignment with the stated ‘we crack so we can try before buying‘ philosophy that the crack community espouses; the alternative approach from RipDev may block piracy altogether, but it also involves more work and more cost. There might be some legitimate purchasers who balk at any phone-home capabilitity that includes personally identifiable data, but Ben claims his implementation only pings back from cracked versions.

With the pingback code running, his preliminary stats show that about 10% of the users of his latest version are running unlicensed copies — that’s very low compared to some popular games, where whisper numbers estimate that more than half of all users never paid for the app. It’s important to remember that pirated copies ≠ ‘lost sales,’ at least not at a 1:1 ratio, as most users of cracked copies would never have bought the app at retail. Ben’s approach at least gives those users the opportunity to choose a legit copy over a cracked one.

[hat tip to Razorianfly]

iPhone app phones home to foil pirates originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone app phones home to foil pirates originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

New iPhone Mail app not quite there yet, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/09/new-iphone-mail-app-not-quite-there-yet/,

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Everyone pretty much knows the weaknesses of the iPhone mail application. So it was with some excitement that we were able to try ibisMail [App Store link] from some sharp developers in Japan. Alas, while packed with features, it also is limited by its own design, and the shackles Apple puts on applications to keep them from using the full power of the iPhone OS.

IbisMail is US $0.99, and works in English and Japanese on both the iPhone and iPod touch with software 2.2 or greater.

First, the good stuff. ibisMail allows you to read and write in landscape mode, something many people have really wanted for a long time. It gives you a nice keyboard with lots of room, and I do like reading and creating mail in that way. It also supports folders and rules. You can watch for certain characteristics of incoming mail, and send that mail to a particular folder, or even the trash. IbisMail also enables the creation of simple templates for mail replies and mail that is forwarded. Complete details and rather good help files are here.

IbisMail supports POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, and authentications including APOP, POP before SMTP, CRAM-MDS and Digest MDS, as well as SSL connections. IbisMail can view Word, Excel, Power Point, JPEG, GIF, PNG and PDF attachments. So far so good.

On the negative side, I had a devil of a time getting accounts set up. My POP account could receive, but never send, even though I was careful to duplicate all the settings that I have. I’ve never had such a hassle with any other mail program. Maybe it was me, or they way the stars were aligning, or something about my ISP, but I just couldn’t get it to work. I tried to set up my MobileMe account, and had similar problems. The original settings would not work, and when I went back to edit them, they were gone, even though I had saved them. This happened several times. Some people are getting it set up fine, so I’m scratching my head on this issue.

IbisMail also seems to make hash of HTML email that has embedded pictures. They simply don’t display. The app also lacks a unified mailbox, just like Apple’s mail app on the iPhone, so if you have multiple accounts you get a lot of finger exercise going back and forth through all the accounts to see what mail you have.

Another drawback is that ibisMail can’t run in the background (thanks Apple) so you have to open the app to see what mail you actually have.

The developers are very open to improving the ibisMail, and I’m sure they will do what Apple will allow them to do. Frankly, I’m surprised this app was even approved by Apple, given their penchant for nuking any app that treads too closely to the iPhone’s built-in functionality.

All in all, I’d rate ibisMail as a good try, but not a compelling upgrade. With some more attention to detail, and some give from Apple, ibisMail could be a very useful addition to your collection of apps.

New iPhone Mail app not quite there yet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New iPhone Mail app not quite there yet originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

AMBER Alert appmaker not happy with submission process, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/10/amber-alert-appmaker-not-happy-with-submission-process/,

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Internet, Apple, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Jonathan Zdziarski, who has appeared on this pages before for other iPhone-related hijinx, has written an open letter to Apple about the AMBER Alert iPhone app he’s written. Apparently he’s worked in conjunction with government agencies to set up an iPhone app that can easily and quickly send sighting reports of children gone missing in the United States. And he’s unhappy with Apple, because they haven’t yet approved it.

His letter, which you can read in full over here, complains that we’ve got tons of fart apps already approved on the store, but his app still sits in approval purgatory. He actually sounds kind of selfish in the letter to me — he says he doesn’t care about how the App Store works, and that he just wants someone to “pick up the phone” and push his app, which could save children’s lives, through.

We’ve got nothing against the AMBER Alert system, of course, and if it’s true that this app can get more reports in and possibly help kids who are in danger, then great. But do we really want Apple picking and choosing which apps get kicked to the front of the line?

Update: looks like the app has been approved. The question remains: what was the holdup?

Continue reading AMBER Alert appmaker not happy with submission process

AMBER Alert appmaker not happy with submission process originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AMBER Alert appmaker not happy with submission process originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

MarinerCalc for iPhone: A spreadsheet in the palm of your hand, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/10/marinercalc-for-iphone-a-spreadsheet-in-the-palm-of-your-hand/,

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

The wizards at Mariner Software have been around the Apple world for a long time. Their first product, a HyperCard stack that charted stock prices, came out in 1989 as a shareware product. After twenty years of developing cool Mac apps, Mariner has just released a useful product for the iPhone: MarinerCalc, a feature-packed spreadsheet application.

During the past few days, I’ve been putting MarinerCalc for iPhone (US$9.99, click opens iTunes) through a series of tests on my iPhone 3G. My assessment is that MarinerCalc is an excellent spreadsheet app. If you have any need to manipulate, create, or even just view spreadsheets on your iPhone, this is the app to get.

Read more about MarinerCalc by clicking the (you guessed it!) Read More link below, and be sure to visit the gallery for plenty of MarinerCalc screenshots.

Continue reading MarinerCalc for iPhone: A spreadsheet in the palm of your hand

MarinerCalc for iPhone: A spreadsheet in the palm of your hand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MarinerCalc for iPhone: A spreadsheet in the palm of your hand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

5 Fingers does iPhone game bundle right, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/10/5-fingers-does-iphone-game-bundle-right/,

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

While bundles are not something new on the App Store, the implementation of this bundle is something special. The user interface for switching between the different games is amazing, and makes it feel as though there was care taken in creating this bundle.

The games included in the batch are:

• Blackbeard’s Assault by Warhorse Games
• BurnBall by IMS (TUAW Review Here)
• Chopper by Majic Jungle Software
• Sneezies by Antair Corporation
• Up There by Veiled Games

It would definitely be neat to see more developers follow this route. You can find more information about the Five Fingers Bundle on their website, or by visiting the iTunes App Store where you can purchase it for $4.99US.

5 Fingers does iPhone game bundle right originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

5 Fingers does iPhone game bundle right originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

Tweetie 1.3 rejected for displaying "offensive language", http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/10/tweetie-1-3-rejected-for-displaying-offensive-language/,

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Bad Apple, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Update: Cooler heads appear to have prevailed, and Loren reports that Tweetie 1.3 has cleared the App Store bluenose barrier and should be showing up later tonight.

We saw this hit the fan early today, hot on the tail of the AMBER Alert post. Apparently the 1.3 update to Tweetie, a popular Twitter client for iPhone we’ve covered before, has been denied release in the App Store because the app could potentially show “offensive language.”

As you may know, blatantly offensive apps (like really “adult” content) are verboten on Apple’s store. Unfortunately, that rule was probably intended to keep X-rated content (maybe hard R as well) off the store, not inadvertently prevent an update to a popular Twitter client. In this case, the offensive material could pop up in Twitter trend searches — never mind that you can find much worse using Google’s search app or mobile Safari itself.

This latest episode plus the Amber Alert app’s delay and many other examples continue to shine a light on what is clearly a broken approval process. As Engadget’s Nilay Patel says, “It’s time to drop the seemingly-random black-box approach… and actually work with innovative developers like Tweetie’s Loren Brichter to push your platform forward in the face of newly-stiff competition.”

That last point is important, because hardware companies are working hard to avoid an iPod-like market lead for the iPhone. Last night’s demo of the Palm Pre had my eyebrows raised, to be sure. If Apple can’t quit shooting the feet of some of the best developers out there, it’ll be all too easy for them to switch to a platform that provides less restrictions, less doubt and less uncertainty.

[Via The iPhone Blog]

Tweetie 1.3 rejected for displaying “offensive language” originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tweetie 1.3 rejected for displaying “offensive language” originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

iPhone prototype yanked down from eBay, http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/10/iphone-prototype-yanked-down-from-ebay/,

Filed under: iPhone

A set of iPhone prototypes from 2006 briefly made the eBay rounds this morning, with bids running more than $2,000 for the two phones (one non-working) before Apple managed to get the listing yanked sometime during the day. The seller also made a YouTube video documenting the features on the phone — while that too was pulled down due to Apple exerting its copyright, Engadget managed to salvage it and now has it up on its site.

The prototype hints at several features that did not make it to the final version of the iPhone, including a possible option for video phone calls and games. The video is well worth watching. Even though the auction was pulled, we still manage to get a peek at the process that led to the phone unveiled in early 2007. We also have a glimpse of the iPhone at its most basic levels, something that will be an asset to developers.

iPhone prototype yanked down from eBay originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone prototype yanked down from eBay originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

, http://www.tuaw.com/category/iphone/rss.xml, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/feedlogo.gif,

Recently Apple has made official statements declaring that they not only they don’t endorse Jailbreaking, they think it’s illegal as well.

The statement was Apple’s first official comment on the practice of jailbreaking, which first emerged within days of the iPhone’s initial release in mid 2007. It came in response an effort by the Electronic Frontier Foundation to make the procedure exempt from prosecution under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. The EFF had argued that jailbreaking the iPhone should be protected under the principal of fair use. “There is no copyright-related rationale for preventing iPhone owners from decrypting and modifying the device’s firmware in order to enable their phones to interoperate with applications lawfully obtained from a source of their own choosing,” the EFF’s Fed von Lohman and Jennifer Granick wrote in their filing with the Copyright Office.

Apple argued otherwise in a response filing opposing any exemption. Jailbreaking an iPhone, it argues, destroys “the technological protection of Apple’s key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone device itself and copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone resulting in copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects.” It also constitutes a breach of contract, Apple attorney David Hayes of Fenwick and West wrote.

Via CNET

By buying the ShiveringKittens game, you can support actual kittens! GiantCrayons games has partnered with ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to donate $1 for every ShiveringKittens games sold.

The game is basically a variant of tetris where you save the kittens from the falling ice blocks.

ShiveringKittens’ website has a video and more screenshots. You can also go directly to the App Store to download the game.

ASPCA, said in a statement:

“The ASPCA is thrilled to work with GiantCrayon to raise funds through this new technology,” said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. “The object of the ShiveringKittens game is to rescue as many kittens as you can – and even though this is a game, in reality the ASPCA works tirelessly each day to save the lives of countless animals. Now, just by playing this virtual game, animal lovers everywhere can help the ASPCA continue that work.”

HP has released the iPrint Photo, an application that lets you print photos from your HP Printer to networked HP printers, wired or wireless.

A list of supported printers is found here.

This application differs from AirPhoto WiFi that we mentioned a few weeks ago, in that it does not need a computer to print the photos. However this renders necessary that the printer is a networked one as opposed to connected to a desktop computer.

The wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, revealed in an interview to Vogue that Apple products are banned in their household.

There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household. But iPods and iPhones are two things we don’t get for our kids

Mr Gates, a multi-billionaire, lives in a lodge-like house overlooking Lake Washington. According to reports, the home boasts plenty of cutting-edge technology, including automatic lighting, speakers hidden inside walls to create the impression of music following visitors wherever they go, and portable touch pads that control everything from the televisions to the temperature.

Review
Firemint’s new casual game “Flight Control” is an awesome game with very simple yet extremely addictive gameplay.
- Incredibly simple, but amazingly engaging.
- Experience all the glamor of the golden era of aviation.
- Beautiful graphics and animation.
- Play in-game sound or listen to your own iTunes music.
- 4 different aircraft including helicopters.
- Play to improve your [...]

Review
Math Zombie will awaken your math skills with it’s fun and simple math game.

Game Features
-Resume game after a phone call
-Local & Global leaderboards for proving that you’re the true Math Zombie
-Three Game Modes: Timed easy (20 seconds) Timed hard (10 seconds) Free play (no time)

Math Zombie is a great fun game to  improve your basic [...]

With record quarters and more money in the bank than… well, many banks, it’s hard to see Apple getting hit by “hard economic times”, but according to CNet, they either are, or are preparing to be:

Sources who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal confirmed reports by Valleywag and 9to5Mac.com that roughly 50 salespeople were let go by the company for “business and economic reasons,” according to one source. An entire sales group based in Austin, Texas, was let go as well as workers in Cupertino, Calif., where Apple is headquartered. Those affected were given severance packages and the opportunity to apply for other jobs inside Apple.

Hopefully all the workers find those other jobs inside Apple quickly.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Lays off 50 Enterprise Sales Staff

Okay, technically one was on Monday, but following up the story on Apple ordering netbook-class panels, Dow Jones (via MacRumors) is following up with the always popular anonymous sources, said to be two people close to the situation:

The mini laptop computers will likely have monitor screens that are between 9.7-inches and 10-inches, one person, who declined to be named, said.

Will this be the 12″ Powerbook replacement many have been clamoring for? Will Apple really leave iTablet and large-size iPod touch demanders hanging again? Or will they combine the two products and make a netbook-sized device with a detachable multitouch-screen that works like a tablet?

It would have to move components from the keyboard section to the screen, making the top thicker and the bottom thinner (a la HTC Advantage).

Would it run iPhone OS X, however, or would people demand Mac OS X, paving the way for a really small, highly optimized version of Snow Leopard? It is building in multi-touch and CoreLocation… And could it be combined with the next generation MobileMe for online storage and cloud functionality, synced both to the full-sized Mac and even more portable iPhone…

Either way, TiPb predicts a fun, rumor-filled 2009!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Speculates: Could Apple be Developing a Netbook with Detachable Tablet Display?

So, who could it be running the approval process for the iTunes App Store at Apple? Hmm. Tough one. Let us put on our little thinking caps here for a moment…. SATAN?!

No, of course, not, nor the Church Lady from SNL, but it must be someone equally cartoonish, how else do we reconcile the App Store rejecting Tweetie 1.3 for containing “offensive language” in search results returned from the public Twitter “Trends” rankings? (via Twitter)

We can search for all manner of unholy pr0n in Mobile Safari, should Apple Reject their own core application because of what it may return as well? Are they expecting developers to become censors and str the fck out of words the way Apple.com does? (see below).

Of course, this could just be one rogue App Store review processor gone horribly wrong, but Apple still bears responsibility for a totally opaque, seemingly capricious review process that creates incidents just like this — over and over again.

They’re likely selling enough fart apps and games to make this a small problem from their end, but they’re losing badly when it comes to the good will of truly innovative developers and bleeding edge techies who form the core of any true next-generation platform.

Wake up, Apple. You’re better than this.

(And good luck to Tweetie developer Loren Brichter on getting Tweetie 1.3 approved — as it should be — and into all of our waiting iPhones quickly!)

Screen shots showing the rejected “language” in Tweetie and others for the sake of comparison after the break (NSFW-L)…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Tweetie 1.3 Rejected by Apple for Returning “Offensive Language” in Search Results (NSFW-L)

Wow, alliteration much? Not sure if it was just a delay (as Apple seems mostly impervious to pressure from the web or customers, open letters included), or some bizarre equal and opposite reaction to Tweetie 1.3 being rejected, but AppleiPhoneApps.com is now reporting that Jonathan Zdziarski’s AMBER Alert app has (finally?) been approved and published to the iTunes App Store:

AMBER Alert [iTunes link] is now available at the [US] App Store for free, and gives users real-time information regarding missing children. Zdziarkski worked closely with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children to make this the official AMBER Alert tool for the iPhone.

Another app, BargainBin, is still languishing in limbo, however, prompting an interesting question on the same site about whether or not the App Store uses “pocket rejections” at times.

Clearly the App Store process remains anything but clear…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Amber Alert App Approved by App Store

Ok, well Apple is really not selling $200 iTunes gift cards for only $2.60 so keep dreaming. But according to Music Ally Chinese “pirates” have hacked the algorithm that generates the iTunes gift cards and so now fake cards are flooding the market for as low as $2.60 in China. When we say flooding we literally mean flooding the Chinese market:

Apparently six months ago, a $200 card went for around 320 RMB (roughly $47), but the price has since plummeted to around 18 RMB ($2.60) as more sellers pile in.

With the iPhone 3G getting ready to make an appearance in China it should be interesting to see just how Apple responds to this. Apple will more than likely make a quick change to nullify the pirates ability to create these cards but it’s not like you can do away with the ones already in circulation as there is no easy way to decipher a bogus card from one that is legit (unless they have some super secret Apple wonder-ETL and ad-hoc query/number-crunching monster we don’t know about).

[Via Music Ally]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

$200 iTunes Gift Cards on Sale for $2.60 (Ok, Not Really…)

Following up on the story about Tweetie 1.3 being rejected because an Apple reviewer saw the word f**k in the Twitter Trends tab, developer Crowded Road contacted us with the story of their app, Human Weather, which was initially rejected by Apple for a similar reason: someone happened to have dropped the f-bomb in the Twitter-stream while it was being reviewed.

Crowded Road went to the trouble — and no doubt cost in man/hours — to implement a filter for said reject-worthy words, and is now available FREE in the App Store [iTunes link]. But so what? As the developers themselves rightly told us:

This kind of policy is doomed to fail simply because it is impossible to police. Apple is only check the app content through a random test as part of their approval process. Of course, looking for “offensive” content as part of an approval process is futile because user generated content is both limitless and unpredictable.

No doubt this is correct, as creative internet users already know. F**k getting filtered? Fug, fukc, fack, fock, f u c k, and limitless other combinations impenetrable to machines but easily parsed by human pattern-matching brains, will easily slip through to offend those easily offended and amuse those easily amused alike.

We’d typically finish up with a rant about how the App Store could be improved, made more transparent with clearly defined criteria, even establish a ratings system for apps as they have for iTunes media, but really, even they must know this by now, right?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

App Story: Human Weather Rejected for Twitter F**k, Implemented Filter, Now in App Store (NSFW-L)

Thanks to Matt from NokiaExperts.com for pointing us to this! Nice break from the drama of the day, Dilbert style…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Tuesday Fun: Dilbert Digs His Smartphone… Too Much?!

Was it the outcry on Twitter? The evisceration courtesy of numerous blogs? Or did someone at Apple actually take our advice and wake up? We don’t know. But we do know this: according to developer Loren Brichter:

Great news! [Tweetie] 1.3 has now been approved! Alright Apple!

Hopefully this wasn’t as capricious a reversal as it was an earlier refusal, and Apple is actually investing some thought in how to get the App Store approval process back on track.

Hey, we can dream, right?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Tweetie 1.3 Now Approved for the App Store!

UPDATED: YouTube pulled the previous video due to a copyright claim by Apple. Engadget is currently providing an alternate video. Get it while it lasts…

ORIGINAL: Dieter and I were just talking about the iPhone prototype up on Ebay, went to check the current price (previously over $2000), and found that it had been yanked off of auction. We’re guessing this is in response to a take-down request from Apple, who might claim physical or at least intellectual property rights over the device.

The YouTube video is still up for now, so enjoy it (while it lasts?)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED VIDEO: iPhone Prototype Yanked off of Ebay?

Michael on Facebook sent us link to this announcement on innerfence, which says Google is shutting down the Infinite SMS App.

According to the developers:

Google has claimed no grievance with Infinite SMS other than its success. Their given reason for the block isn’t abuse or wrongdoing; it’s that we brought too many users (and thus too much cost) to an experimental service.

Google’s official statement reads:

Infinite SMS is a third party app that has been using Google technology to provide free SMS for users, while we were paying for the cost of the text messages. While Google is supportive of third party apps, we’ve decided we can’t support this particular usage of our system at this time. SMS chat is still just an experiment in the early testing stages in Gmail Labs. We’re blocking all external XMPP clients from sending SMS; we’re not singling out Inner Fence.

SMS, of course, uses the carrier channel to inexpensively send short 160 byte text messages which the Telco’s then exorbitantly price gouge users $0.20 per message (do the math, thats thousands for megs) or offer bundled in large or unlimited numbers. They’ve even priced them so high for businesses that companies like Twitter — and apparently more so Google — can’t or don’t want to pay for them, especially for international users.

Are you an Infinite SMS user? If so, what are your thoughts on Innerfence, Google, experimental services, and SMS charges?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Google Nuking Infinite SMS App for iPhone

Kex,

When I encountered Kex, I was intrigued by the YouTube video of a character leaping, shooting, and dodging his way around a single glass tower. In fact, the whole of Kex is much like you might find in a boss battle of a platforming title.

You control a super-hero character who circles a glass tower. Dodge missiles, bombs and other devices while trying to shoot at the windows that are green. All the while the timer counts down. Take a hit and you lose time, but if you hit a green window you gain time. The game is over when the timer reaches zero.

While not as refined as some of the more expensive games out there, Kex makes a good impression. The game design is simple yet functional, and the character animation is smooth. Whether running, leaping or taking a hit, the character is well-designed and the animation looks great.

For me, the most frustrating aspect of Kex is the controls. In a fast-paced game like this controls need to be fluid and intuitive. The intuitive part is mostly there, but they are not fluid as fluid as I would have liked. For instance, sliding your finger left and right to run is simple and transitioning is quick, but if you want to jump you cannot simply slide your finger upward. You must first lift your finger before sliding it up to jump. The double tap for shooting was often frustrating for me. I just couldn’t jump then quickly tap twice in the same spot and actually hit what I was aiming for. With some practice I am improving, but it is still imperfect at best.

With the multi-touch capability of the iPhone, it would be nice to see that integrated into controls. It would be simpler to simply use a second finger simultaneously to jump or double-tap rather than to have to use only one finger at a time.

With the lack of backstory on Kex, I decided to fill in some of the gaps myself. Find out more about this mysterious warrior and his enemy  in the gallery captions below (not endorsed by Flying Sickle Studios).

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/0tkdjno1KdM/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

BellyButton,

I once read an article about how some girl had a running competition with her co-workers to see who could show off the weirdest iPhone app at every meeting, so before heading over to the conference room she would go to the App Store and find the strangest app possible to out-weird the competition. I don’t know if this is a common practice, but if you have similar contests in your workplace try arming yourself with BellyButton! Chances are you’ll walk away a champ.

BellyButton is kind of like Wooo Button… it’s pointless, bizarre, and strangely amusing. You get to choose from seven different navels, one of which is an orange (!), and match them up with five different voices. Each bellybutton type defaults to a particular voice, like the hula belly is paired with the voice of Female 2, and when you tap or tickle the belly it jiggles and laughs! Yep. It jiggles. And it laughs.

You can change the laughter if you’re more entertained by the thought of a girl with a huge beer gut or some other odd combo, and there’s a Roulette Mode that will throw in a fart here and there which makes the giggling just that much funnier.

What I’d like to see in future updates are more bellies and more variety in the laugh tracks. How about a pregnant belly? One with tattoos, maybe? And the available laughter is kind of funny, but more is always better.

ch-apps did a decent job on BellyButton, but I think even they would have to admit that this is definitely a “niche” kind of app… some people will roll their eyes at it and go “omg wtf”, while others will think it’s the funniest app ever made. Does that mean it’s worth a buck? Well… if you’re in the running to win some kind of screwy office pool, definitely! And if not, then you’ll just have to decide for yourself what an occasional chuckle is worth to you.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/XVGM7MIRUhA/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

iBurps - Classic,

Uhhh… is there a support group for people who are inexplicably drawn to iPhone apps that digitize bodily functions? If there is, they should make me their president! iBurps - Classic is another in a long line of disgusting noisemakers that most of the human race regards as crass and obnoxious, but at least this one has a small surprise built into it that makes it more fun than some of the other apps in the genre.

The first thing any belching fan should know about iBurps is that it has a pretty good selection of burps in it… 16 in all, including such gems as Room Shaker, The Alphabet, Excuse Me-eeeee, Wake Up the Kids, and World Record Holder. Even though a lot of them sound kind of similar (it’s belching, after all), some of these gaseous eruptions are actually pretty amazing for their sheer intensity! If Randy Jackson from American Idol were judging the belcher, he’d definitely be saying that was hot baby, yeeeeah dog.

The suprise that NextStream Media put into iBurps is the ability to record your own burp. Truth is you could record pretty much anything you want, but if you’re playing with this app chances are you’re eager to test your, uh, “skillz”, against the app’s resident burping pro. You only get one recording slot, though, so if you capture a big one you’d better be sure your next belch will beat it before hitting Record again.

It’s hard to demand much from apps that burp and fart and puke and all that, but the one thing this app needs to fix is the sound quality. Lack of volume isn’t the issue here… it’s that the belches are so powerful that it sounds like a little bit of distortion got recorded as well. I did turn my iPhone volume down in hopes that would smooth things out, but it didn’t so that’s a fairly clear sign that the recordings themselves need some adjustment.

If the sound quality issue can be addressed, this could possibly be the funniest - and most disgusting - collection of belches ever assembled (a distinction to be proud of if there ever was one!). Even as it is right now, though, there’s still some very inappropriate fun to be had if that’s what you’re into.

I normally put the video before the screenshots, but this one’s just a little bonus to show that anything boys can do, cute teenage tomboy girls can probably do better:

A classic clip from America’s Got (no) Talent

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/VizAbOGqezE/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

20 Questions,

Here’s a snapshot of a day in my life:

“Mom, where’s my coat?”

“Honey, am I supposed to pick up the dry cleaning?”

“Have you read my memo on search engine optimization?”

“Mom, why do I have to shower EVERY day?”

So you might wonder if I’m insane or just conditioned to play a game of 20 Questions.  I like to think it’s the latter, but several friends, at least one family member, and a licensed member of the state medical board say it’s the former.   And not just for playing 20 questions.  But, as usual, I digress.

20 Questions is a cute little game from inZania, the same folks that brought us Study Arcade and Mad Libs, both of which I find a ton of fun.  And 20 Questions is fun too.  I don’t have to explain how the game is played…do I?  Really?  Fine - it’s the same game you’ve played in the car with your parents on road trips, and the little electronic version that you may have seen.  You think of something, and the game tries to read your mind, and has 20 questions to ask before guessing the answer.

This game asks all the questions you’d expect (like, is it animal, vegetable, or mineral as question 1), and continues to ask questions until it has to guess.  If the game guesses at question 20 and gets it wrong, it gives the player the option to continue for another 5-10 questions to try and guess and learn.  If the game guesses wrong, it asks you to type in the correct answer so it can learn from its mistakes.  The game needs an internet connection because it uses a “brain” on the ‘net to not only figure out what the next question should be, but also to learn what the right answer should have been.

The graphics of the little Magic 8 Ball (that’s what I call him) are clever, and change expression along with his guesses and the game results.  For a simple game, it is engaging, and I think the Magic 8 Ball guy they created helped to draw me in and keep me entertained.  I played for 30 minutes straight yesterday while waiting for and appointment with the vet, and my kids played it last night and thought it was a fun way to pass the time. 

I will say that it only guessed right about 40% of the time, but this is a new game, and if it is truly learning, then I expect the accuracy rating to go up.  The $2.99 pricetag may be a little steep for a game that is so simplistic, but it’s a game that doesn’t have levels that you conquer and then get bored with, and it’s a different game every time you play it, assuming you don’t always think of the same object.  With as much time as I spend waiting for delayed airplanes, I think 20 Questions will help make that time more bearable.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/VNswO5Rv77g/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

Sentinel,

It’s always a pleasure reviewing an app that has the time and money invested to make it a truly quality game. Sentinel is a tower defense game that rises to the top with spectacular graphics, great sound, and intuitive controls. Origin8 Technologies Limited has put a lot into developing this app, and it shows.

If you’re not familiar with the tower defense game genre, here’s a short primer. You are guarding your base from the hordes of enemy who will follow a convoluted path of attack. Place towers to fire on the enemy and hopefully stop them from reaching your base.

The controls are simple and easily learned. Drag and drop to create towers, and tap existing towers to either upgrade or sell.  Use two fingers and spread apart to zoom in for a better look at any area then scroll around the battlefield with one finger.

There are three different maps of increasing difficulty. Beating a map unlocks the next map. One interesting feature on the maps in Sentinel was multiple entry points for enemies. The second and third maps both had more than one path enemies could take to get to the base, making the defense more challenging.

Included on the maps are barriers. These are blockades on the path which enemies must destroy to pass. If kept intact, the barriers will add to your score and possibly make defense of your base a little easier.

For the most part Sentinel is a lot like most other traditional tower defense games out there, which is its main weakness. The tower choices are your basic weak and fast attack tower, cannon-type tower, slow enemies tower, strong and slow attack tower, and sniper tower. Enemies also fall into the usual types: slow walkers, fast swarmers, flying, and boss.

One addition is the ability to have up to three repair robots. These robots will repair damages to the base or barriers. When not repairing, they will mine resources to add to your money.

I admit that I am not the best at tower defense games, but I had hoped to make it all the way through on Easy mode. On the third map I was destroyed just I made it to Wave 100 (out of 120). It is a little frustrating to make it that far then have to start over from the beginning. It would also be nice to have a checkpoint or two along the way considering how long it takes to get that far.

At $4.99 this is one of the higher-priced games out there. Looking at the app, it is easy to see the reason for the price tag. Development of a quality app costs money, and Sentinel is definitely a high-quality app. If you enjoy tower defense games, Sentinel will certainly not leave you disappointed.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/2uY_p8fxKRg/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

Little Red Sled - 3D Racing,

Little Red Sled - 3D Racing might be the most wholesome game you’ll ever play and it goes without saying that it’s essential gear for any youngsters you have around (that you allow to play with your i<device> anyway).  For the polish, presentation and gameplay it’s easily 1.5 thumbs up so throw in the highly original music and it’s a full 2 for an unpretentious, pure-hearted gaming experience with universal appeal.  In a sort of existential way the game kind of reminds me of my little son, very genuine and (as yet) untainted by the nuttiness of the world.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/nxBbBCFlb4Y/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

Camera Timer,

If you threw a pebble at the app store, it would bounce off about 10 camera apps before coming to rest.  So how does Camera Timer from Nuno Carvalho Entertainment stack up against the glut?  Well, it does exactly what it’s namesake implies…and nothing more.  This app allows you to specify whether the iPhone will take a picture in 15, 30 or 45 seconds.  Optional SFX will let you know when it’s just about to snap.  In what is easily my shortest review ever, that’s it, the end.

I have a couple gripes while we’re all here.  First a generalization; there are 2 types of camera apps out there if you loosely categorize: those that add value to the native camera app and those that strive to be a replacement for it.  Camera Timer has positioned itself as the former when to me it makes much more sense to shoot for the latter.  What you get is something in between that I think would be a struggle to find a permanent home for on your iPhone.  There’s no stabilization feature using the accelerometer.  There’s no autosave option.  The camera roll is accessible from the app but the author inexplicably overlays his logo on each one, reducing the viewable image area for no justifiable reason.

When apps exist that do what Camera Timer does plus considerably more and for less jack (such as Darkroom Premium), it’s impossible to recommend this app unless you simply must have an extra icon on your iPhone that serves the singular purpose of timing the camera shutter release.

Version reviewed - 1
Reviewed on - iPhone 3G 8G 2.2.1

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/zTS-g6MFovE/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

BallRing,

If you can legitimately claim to be good at BallRing that means you’ve got more patience and steadier hands than 99.9% of the world’s population! Of course I’m not basing that figure on anything scientific, but it really does take a special kind of talent to master this incredibly frustrating puzzle game.

The object of BallRing is simply to put the balls in the ring. Tilt your iPhone this way and that, and eventually a couple of the little orbs will either float or bounce their way through the gap in the ring. And if you’re me, they’ll either float or bounce their way out again.

What makes this game so hard are the various conditions you find yourself playing under… Classic mode makes the balls more susceptible to gravity than the ring, just as if they were objects sitting on a dry, flat surface. Bouncer makes everything slide around like it’s an ice rink, DuoRing doubles the fun with two rings and twice as many balls, Hypnotize creates a weird optical illusion that you kind of have to see for yourself, Liquid makes everything move around the board more or less in unison, and Sequential demands that you work only specific balls into the ring or it’s all over.

Each mode can be relatively easy with only 3 or 4 balls to contend with, and if you’re a true masochist you might find yourself trying to negotiate as many as 8 of them. All the while a timer sits quietly in the corner of the screen as a not-so-subtle reminder that being good at BallRing means being fast at BallRing.

There’s no global scoreboard so you’re playing strictly for the personal challenge, and if you think you’re a Puzzle Master you haven’t tried this game yet. It may not be for everyone, but if you count steadiness and concentration among your best “skills” then you should consider dropping a buck on on this game… but make sure you have the suicide hotline on speed dial because you just might need to make that call!

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/W_SL5-SU9UY/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

Q&F: Tap Tap Revenge 2,

For whatever reason I wasn’t all that impressed with the original Tap Tap Revenge when I tried it last summer while the App Store was still in its infancy, but this new iteration adds a killer component that makes it far more interesting: an entire catalog of downloadable “real” music to play to!

If you’ve never played Tap Tap Revenge before, it’s a little like Guitar Hero in that you try to match the beat of the music by tapping and occasionally shaking, and you get to do it to the tune of over 150 songs from mostly-indie artists with a few from bigger names like Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, and Death Cab for Cutie. Naturally, if you like what you hear you can tap your way over to iTunes and buy the music for your iPod collection.

Tap Tap Revenge 2 comes with lots of bells & whistles including online play, two-player, and challenge modes, but for me it’s all about tapping to some new music from a lot of up & coming artists. Radio is dead to me and it’s been years since I had the patience to watch MTV, so I’ll find new stuff to listen to any way I can.

The graphics are awesome and it’s a pretty fun game, especially if you like the music you’re tapping to, so you should probably get Tap Tap Revenge 2 before Tapulous figures out they could charge a buck for it and become instant billionaires.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/zhw2Fqo7CWU/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

App Sale Alert!,

So I did it. I put up a poll (sidebar, just above the tall skinny ads) and I asked if you would visit my review-only site, and after about 3 or 4 people said “yeah” I went and made AppSale.net. I’ve never been known for being patient! Truth is I had already decided to do the site and I was just looking for a little validation.

It went live over the weekend and lots of developers are already sending me descriptions, sale dates, screenshots, and Youtube videos to post with their sale announcements. You know what this means, right? It means that I’ll be in the know when cool apps become free! And some apps that simply drop to a lower price might also be worth mentioning here and there.

So here’s the first-ever App Sale Alert:

$0.99 Free until 03/20/09: Ambiance Classic

I reviewed this app a long time ago when it was just a humble sound machine with a limited number of sound loops, and now that Matt Coneybeare has released a completely overhauled version, he’s putting his original Ambiance out there at no cost for a little while so you can see what you missed. If you’re looking for a sound machine to help you relax or sleep at night, Ambiance Classic will do it (but his new version will probably do it better).

$2.99 $0.99 until 03/15/2009: Carambole Pool Puzzles

Swain reviewed Carambole Pool Puzzles recently and would have loved the game if it hadn’t crashed on him every 5 seconds. ADS Software Group says they’ve fixed the crashing issue, so this one might finally be worth trying for a buck.

That’s all I got for now… there are a few other apps listed at AppSale.net that are free, but right now Ambiance is really the only one that stands out as a possible must-have.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iPhoneAppReviews/~3/kLmi_oUV4pk/, iPhone App Reviews, http://feeds2.feedburner.com/iPhoneAppReviews, ,

$.99: iWingman Pickupline Generator,

Price: $1.99 $.99 until First 5000 downloads 

A note from 3PM Studios, the maker of iwingman - Pickupline Generator: iWingman is a pickup line generator. Rate your target, and specific pickup lines are generated

Gentlemen, start your mission! Get ready to search for the girl of your dreams while playing the most hilarious pick up line game ever.

-Identify your target and rate her face, body, personality, intelligence, smell and location.
- Choose funny qualities such as “smells like sweaty socks”
-All this data is used to quickly compile the best and most effective pickup lines for your situation.
-Use your iPhone camera (or Photo Library) to do some reconnaissance work of your own and import the image right to iWingman.
-BEWARE! If your target is deemed too dangerous, you may have to abort the mission…

This amazing app contains over 250 entertaining pickup lines in 5 different categories. It will be updated on a regular basis with new pick up lines.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appsale-net/~3/1xWsU_L2aeA/, AppSale.net, http://www.appsale.net/feed/, ,

$.99: Dreams & Lotto,

Price: $1.99 0.99 until first 5,000 downloads 

A note from Intermundia, the maker of Dreams&Lotto: The first software application that changes your dreams into Lotto numbers to play is now on sale waiting for the next version

Dreams&Lotto is the modern version of the traditional Neapolitan book “La Smorfia”, one of the oldest and most well-known texts on interpreting dreams.

According to “La Smorfia” every element in a dream corresponds to one of the 90 Lotto numbers.

The origin of the term “Smorfia” is uncertain, but many believe it to be linked to the name of Morpheus, the ancient Greek god of sleep.

“La Smorfia” is specially linked to the city of Naples, where Lotto has long been a favourite pastime.

FUNCTIONS:

Discovering which numbers to play is easy and fun!
- Write in your dream and the corresponding numbers will appear.
- Send the numbers to whoever you wish via e-mail.
- Over 2,400 definitions.

,
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appsale-net/~3/P