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Update: The App Store is now pushing out the update. Enjoy!
NOTE: If you don’t see the microphone icon immediately in the top right corner, tap the Settings button at the bottom right, and switch the slider to “Enabled”.
Original post:
Well, it’s definitely later than last Friday, but it doesn’t look like anyone, including Apple, delayed this long: Google’s Mobile App (iTunes link) now includes the much talked about Advanced Voice Search feature… sorta.
According to Jeremy, iTunes isn’t pushing the update yet, and you actually have to delete the app first if you’ve already installed it in order to get the latest, greatest, chattiest version on your iPhone. (Yup, you read correctly, this isn’t a new App, but an update to Google’s existing iPhone search App.)
Of course, I don’t have an iPhone right now, but if you do, try it out, ask it just how tall Everest really is, and let us know what kind of response you get!
And for you privacy advocates out there, is the coolness factor of this enough to give Skynet, er… The Matrix, um… Google access to your voice ID?
(Thanks to Trevor, Josh, Craig, Bob, for sending this in!)
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Updated! Google Mobile App Now Includes Voice Search
Filed under: Cellphones
The oft-bemoaned lack of certain, um... capabilities of the the iPhone is forcing individual companies to take desperate measures, it seems. It's not entirely clear, but MacWorld says it's confirmed with Telia that the Swedish-Finnish carrier's developing an MMS-enabling app for the iPhone. MacWorld says the app will hit the market in the next two months, which is great news for everyone in Sweden. If you live anywhere else in the world, however, you'll just have to continue on, rueing the day you ever encountered Apple's MMS-spurning, copy and paste-hating handset.MMS-capabilities coming soon to a Swedish iPhone? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsBut in a 19-page order pass...
You work with numbers all day long, your Macbook lacks the numeric keypad… Frustrated much? I’m sure that can be very inconvenient, that is until now.
Balmuda has just released their solution to your dilemma, Numberkey. [iTunes Link] The price to this solution is a small price to pay, coming in at $1.99. For that you get your ever so priceless numeric keypad. And for all of your who have OCD like myself, it will match your style of keyboard on your Mac. Whether it’s white, black, or silver - Numberkey has you are covered.
To get set up you first need to download and install Balmuda’s Mac software. Then head to the App Store and download Numberkey, turn on WiFi on both your Macbook and iPhone, and you are good to go.
It is also important to note, this is for Macs only, sorry Windows faithful!
Enjoy!
[Via Technabob.com]
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
NumberKey: Turn Your iPhone Into a Numeric Keypad for Your Macbook
Filed under: iPhone
China Mobile, the service provider in talks with Apple to distribute the iPhone in the world's most populous country, is still expressing interest in selling the handset, but has plans to open its own online app store.
According to Macworld, Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman and CEO, said at a recent conference that "We will set up our own shop, and we hope, welcome all content providers to sell their software applications and games and songs and any other products in our application shop."
Cult of Mac's Ed Sutherland notes that Apple and China Mobile are still in talks to bring the handset to China, according to Wang.
Dan Nystedt of the IDG News Service speculated that China Mobile's app store would sell apps for Linux- and Symbian-based mobile phones, but it's unclear how this will affect China Mobile's burgeoning relationship with Apple.
Apple, of course, already has the iTunes store, which offers music, games and apps for the iPhone platform. China Mobile's store is unlikely to interfere technically with the iPhone/iTunes ecosystem, but it would compete financially with Apple's offering. Not that there's anything wrong with competition, of course.
An agreement with China Mobile would mean having the iPhone available to a market of 400 million existing subscribers, and perhaps millions more new subscribers. For comparison, the total population of the United States last year was just over 300 million people.
China Mobile making things complicated? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
China Mobile making things complicated? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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SushiTime Forum Review by msbaylor. (Visit the thread for video and more pics. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum!
So you go to a new sushi restaurant in town, you think, “man I bet they have an awesome yellow tail roll here”. You are seated at a table by the beautiful waitress, you open the menu, and low and hold…the menu uses terms that you know nothing about. You think to yourself, “I could ask the waitress, but then she’ll think I’m stupid!” That’s when it hits you, only the night before, you downloaded Sushi Time to your iPhone. With Sushi Time, you realize, “I don’t have to be a sushi pro to eat like one! Sushi Time will demystify many common terms found in sushi restaurant menus as well as fill in gaps for sushi connoisseurs.”
So you whip out your iPhone and startup Sushi Time, you scroll down the list to lookup up the word “fugu” your finger shakes with excitement as you realize you are so close to revealing the secrets of the name…You tap it and the app reveals a tile with a picture, hey you “realize that looks like yellow-tail”…
…you then flip over the tile with a swipe of your finger and it reads:
Toxic! “O sheesh”, you think to yourself, “good thing I didn’t get that…”
You realize Sushi Time might have just saved your life…
Sushi Time is a simple app. Its used to look up terms that may be used in a sushi restaurant, and it you are daring enough to try a random dish, you might want to check to see what you are actually getting.
Terms are sorted in alphabetical order or you can view them by type.
Within the list view, navigation is simple, it’s like scrolling through your contacts. Upon clicking on a term a tile will appear with the name and a picture. You can swipe over the tile to reveal information about the term by using the swiping motion. Besides the description you also gave the option of adding to your favorites.
Therefore you can pull up those terms next time you want to order them in a resturant and impress the waitress…
Overall I was expecting more. I thought it would geve me a little more information about each item. I also don’t like the - see picture then swipe to see description. I am not quizing myself over terms, I just want the facts, so It would be nice if they made it just one page instead of a flip screen. $1.99 is asking too much for this app at the moment.
$1.99
Forum Review Rating
[SushiTime is available from the iTunes App Store]
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Forum Review: SushiTime for the iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch
When I showed this to my brother he remarked that it looked almost as good as any PSP game. Featuring a ton of cars, tracks and simple gameplay, Fastlane Street Racing (App Store link) is the best racer I've played on the iPhone. Each track is incredibly detailed and appears very large to boot. If there's only one weak point it's the audio. While passable, the engine noises could possibly be better. That said, they are dynamic (and change if you go into a tunnel or change speed, etc.) and it's likely this was the only way to make them so.First Look: Fastlane Street Racing originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
First Look: Fastlane Street Racing originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TiPb has been exploring issues surrounding the App Store, especially how developers can earn a living, the various attempts to market apps in a sporting manner, as well the gaming and foul play going on.
In the bright lights category, developer James Thomson (ha! spelled it right that time!) has taken a decidedly humorous approach with the launch of his updated PCalc 1.2 (iTunes link) calculator app:
I think we got off to a bad start last time with version 1.1. It was my fault entirely. I came out with this big release I’d spent months on, sent out my press releases, and not a soul ran a story with the exception of that nice Mr Gruber fellow [Although TiPb did run an interview -- thanks again, James!]. Sales were quite poor and we both said some things we regretted in the morning.
But I understand, don’t worry. You’re tired of the deluge of iPhone press releases, and everything you see just starts to look the same after a while. I didn’t do anything to make it an interesting read and, let’s face it, I’m kind of fighting a losing battle with a calculator which - I’ll be the first to admit - is next to the flashlights and to-do list apps in terms of reaching saturation point on the store.
Not quite. I rock PCalc on my iPhone, with narry a flashlight in sight!
While PCalc chose humor, some others have gone decidedly darker…
Another recent TiPb interviewee, Yellow Pages (iTunes link), has a negative review plastered to the top of their app from someone (iTunes link) who also negatively reviewed a White Pages app, recommending instead the competition (which is “part of the new AT&T“). Strangely, over on phonescoop.com, that userid turns up stating an association with AT&T. D’oh! I think most of us would prefer real users giving us real recommendations, with developers sticking to promoting their own products and not wasting time worrying about the competition. B’okay?
Last up, via Daring Fireball, comes a great post from Andy Finnell of Order N on “How to Price Your iPhone App Out of Existence“. The whole article is definitely worth a read, but the conclusion is killer:
There will be an iPhone app bust. The current prices simply aren’t sustainable. Either developers will crash out of the market when they discover they can’t make a living off their current prices, or the gold rush developers will lose interest and leave when they realize they can’t make a quick buck off the store. The developers left standing will be the ones who set reasonable prices for their applications.
I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is. I currently have an iPhone app in development, and when it comes out, I will price it $9.99 or higher. I’ll let you know how it goes for me.
Dieter has spoken at length about the Long Tail of App Store business, but could the race to bottom really be putting things in short order? I’d gladly pay $10 or $20 for desktop quality apps or PSP/DS quality games, especially if it feeds developers’ families and ensures we, you know, actually get those kinds of apps. What about you?
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
State of the Apps: PCalc Hits 1.2, Dirty Tactics, and a Warning to Developers: Charge More for Apps!
