iPhone developer writes open letter on App Store

One developer argues that the proliferation of cheap applications in the App Store is potentially making it harder for developers to justify creating more complicated and expensive programs.

DIY: Turn an Old Phone into an iPhone Docking Station

Review: Guitar Rock Tour for iPhone

It’s not that original a concept—Guitar Hero players will instantly recognize the similarity—but Guitar Rock Tour is still one of the better music games to make it to the iPhone and iPod touch.

Citrix to extend desktop virtualization to the iPhone

The iPhone will see desktop virtualization in 2009 with a product from Citrix.

Apple Releases Firmware Updates for ‘Late 2008′ Portables

Apple today released a number of firmware updates for the "Late 2008" MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. Each model requires two separate firmware updates.

EFI Firmware Updates: The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specifies the...

iPhone coming to South Korea

Filed under: iPhone

After much delay, the iPhone is finally coming to South Korea. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) had been requiring handsets to use the locally-built WIPI mobile platform. Earlier this week, that changed:

"...considering global industry trends toward the use of general-purpose mobile operating systems, we concluded that there was a need to allow carriers the freedom to decide whether to use WIPI or not,'' said Shin Yong-sub, the director of KCC's policy bureau.

This restriction prevented many foreign manufacturers, like Apple, from selling handsets in South Korea. So, what happens now? First off, it looks like carriers KTF and SK Telecom will be handling the iPhone in South Korea. Finally, would-be customers will still have to wait until next spring, as the rule requiring WIPI will be effective until April of 2009. But that's better than "never," right?

[Via MacDailyNews]

iPhone coming to South Korea originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone coming to South Korea originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nerd rapper posts iPhone-created music video

An amateur rapper has posted a music video that he filmed entirely using his iPhone.

Truphone VoIP iPhone App Now Allows you to Make Cheap International Calls over GSM Network, Without Wi-Fi

Strong chess game for the iPhone/touch

Filed under: Gaming, Reviews, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Chess goes way back in our history, maybe as far back as 100 A.D., and beautiful chess pieces were found in Scotland dating back to 1200 A.D. Tournaments started in the 15th or 16th century, so along with death and taxes, chess has been around a long time.

With the coming of powerful computers, chess was a natural to test how those 'thinking' machines could do against humans. I think the first computer vs. human chess game was in 1950 written by Alan Turing. Of course, there was Deep Blue (from IBM) which defeated world champion Gary Kasparov in 1997.

Chess-playing computers have also played some key parts in movies ... like the WOPR computer in "War Games", and of course HAL-9000 won a game in "2001-A Space Odyssey". It's said the creators of the film, Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick put in a chess playing computer as a joke because they thought no computer would ever play chess well.

Well, chess is played pretty well by computers now, and a fine, fine application has just been released to the iPhone app store. It's called Deep Green [iTunes link], a tribute to Deep Blue and the 'green' I expect comes from the applications origins for the Newton. The creator of the program, Joachim Bondo wrote Deep Green for Apple's ill-fated PDA, and a few days after Deep Green appeared, the Newton was pulled off the market.

Well, Deep Green is back, and is certainly a powerful chess partner. You can play against Deep Green, and adjust the strength of the chess engine. You can play against another person, or you can watch Deep Green play against itself.

Chess mavens will like that you can set up the game board manually, and you can take back moves or watch them again. The animation is very smooth and the chess pieces are very nicely rendered. I played a few games against Deep Green and it pretty much put me out of my misery quickly. When it takes one of my pieces, it vibrates to make sure I don't miss the bad news. If you quit the game before it is completed, it nicely saves it's state and lets you resume where you left off. (Or you can always resign.) Deep Green will also play back a previous game with full animation and you can control the speed.

Features I'd like to see added are iPhone to iPhone games, either over the internet or a wireless LAN.

The game is on sale through December for 4.99 but after the holidays it goes for 7.99. Another chess game that gets good reviews at the app store is Cyber Chess Ultimate, which is an online chess application but I have not tried it.

If you're into chess, I think you'll like Deep Green. It just might be 'checkmate' for iPhone/iPod touch chess games.

Strong chess game for the iPhone/touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Strong chess game for the iPhone/touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA’s SimCity Coming to App Store

Fans of EA’s ever popular SimCity series should be jumping with joy right about now. Later this month EA will be releasing SimCity for the iPhone on the App Store. Kotaku was able to demo the game recently and here is what they had to say:

The controls act the same way they do for Google maps. Sliding your fingers together, inward, zooms out, while sliding them apart zooms in. Touching and dragging moves your view around the map, while continuous taps cycles through the zoom levels. Placing singular objects is simple, but placing large zones or roads can be tricky to maneuver. Once you’ve selected the zone you want, you touch and drag to the appropriate length and width. However, there are times when you may find zones overlapping or roads not lining up properly. EA allows for easy corrections as you can reposition or delete unwanted blocks by the touch of a finger. I found this to be a little wonky at times the more dense an area becomes due to the increased chances of deleting the wrong block or building.

Being a unfinished demo it sounds pretty promising for fans of the series! The bugs and kinks mentioned should be fixed by the time it rolls in to the App Store, at least we are hopeful they are. Price point for this game is expected to be $9.99. We will update you when it drops!

[Via Gizmodo]

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

EA’s SimCity Coming to App Store

App Store Developers Debate Pricing and Marketing

While the iTunes App Store has been a huge success in terms of iPhone app distribution, there have been lingering complaints that the current structure encourages a "race to the bottom" with massive competition dropping the price of apps towards $0.9...

Review: iTalk Recorder for iPhone

Griffin Technology’s first foray into software stands out thanks to some impressive features in this voice-recording app as well as a free utility that helps you move recordings from you iPhone or iPod touch to a computer.

Movie Availability on iTunes May Be Temporary

CNet explains the reason behind a Macworld report last week that several movies had disappeared from the iTunes Store.

Frequent Macworld contributor Kirk McElhearn noticed something interesting when he went to grab a movie from the...

iPhone is #3 on Time’s gadgets list

Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPhone

Apple has long been a darling of Time Magazine's tech writers. Just take a look at the history

• The iPhone is 2007's Gadget of the Year
• The iPhone is 2007's Invention of the Year
• The MacBook Pro was Gadget of the Week back in 2006
• Several appearances on the cover

Heck, even the Nike+ iPod kit was nominated for Gadget of the Year in 2006. This year, the iPhone is listed at number 3 on Time's year-end list, "The Top 10 Everything." I guess it was due for a slip (not that 3rd place on a list counting "everything" is bad!). Second place went to the Mitsubishi LaserVue 65-inch HDTV, while the Optoma Pico PK-101 sits at the top spot.

The Pico, a pocket-sized projector for the iPod, first caught our attention in November. Optoma has priced it at $399US and suggested a shipping date of early next year.

So what accounted for the iPhone's slip? Time claims an email experience inferior to that on a Blackberry as well as average performance as a cell phone.


[Via MacNN]

iPhone is #3 on Time's gadgets list originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone is #3 on Time's gadgets list originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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South Korea drops rule that would prevent iPhone sales

A regulation that would have prohibited the iPhone from going on sale in South Korea will be abandoned next April.

Round Robin: TiPb vs. HTC FUZE Final Review

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

I thought my review last week for the Palm Treo Pro would be my toughest, little did I suspect Dieter would double up on my HTC and Windows Mobile experience (actually, triple up on HTC as I had the Android G1 for the first review). That’s a LOT of Windows Mobile, especially for someone who abandoned the platform a long time ago, first for Palm OS, and now for the iPhone.

Reviewing the same OS two weeks in a row is a challenge. I originally focused on the PIM apps last week, including calendar, tasks, and notes, and through in email and web for good measure. This week I planned on focusing more on Windows Mobile from a media and “under the hood” perspective. However, something changed that: TouchFlo 3D. Turns out, not only was the FUZE’s slider keyboard a big old hardware differentiator, their “skin” running on top of Windows Mobile was a fairly compelling software differentiator as well. So, instead of doing a poor job rehashing tech-specs that any writer over at WMExperts could run circles around, I’m going to go with the TouchFlo.

Just remember: I’m not coming at this device from a neutral point of view. That’s not my job here. My job is to give you an iPhone user’s opinion. So, consider me bias, a n00b, an iFanboy, a complete idiot, but consider this as well: my final, full review… after the break!

Introduction

Never had an intro on one of these before. Never needed it. Do now. I don’t run Gentoo Linux as my primary, secondary, tertiary — my any-ary — OS. I’m sure it’s powerful, configurable, and Stalman et al could give me a thousand reasons why I should. I only have one reason why I don’t: user experience. I just don’t want to work that hard. I’ve talked about this before, and I will again (fair warning, that!) but my smartphone should work for me, not the other way around. The WMExperts forum gave me tons of useful tweaks (thanks for those!) but I really don’t want to tweak. I’m too tired of tweaking. I don’t want to have to edit registries, tinker with ROMS, remember shortcut keys, or do any of the winzillion things I need to do to make a Windows Mobile device “just work” for 90% of what I want it to do. The barrier for entry is too high.

I’m in the process of deciding there are several segments of the smartphone market. BlackBerry hits productivity/business. Android hits early adapters/enthusiasts. Windows Mobile hits tinkerers. It hits people who want exactly what they want, and enjoy working at it almost as much as using it. Rather than tricking out the ultimate drag racer in their garage or building a robot in their basement, they’re going to make their Windows Mobile smartphone do exactly what they want down to the 3rd alt-shortcut key in the 4th tabbed option screen (skinned, of course).

It’s for those who enjoy the journey as much as the destination. (I suspect that’s why Dieter has enough Windows Mobile devices to make a manwhich out of!) There are several cases where I’m exactly that guy. This isn’t one of them. I want my smartphone to work pretty much effortlessly right out of the box, and I want it to perform as well or better than the best smartphones available in 2008. That’s what I want.

Hardware

Yes it’s creaky. I’ll get that out of the way right at the beginning. The iPhone is a solid slab. Anything made out of plastic that includes a slider hinge that moves half of the device half the way off the device will be, decidedly, not so solid. Still, HTC makes really good plastic hardware, and much like the Android G1, the individual pieces of the slider by themselves are solid.

Buttons

When the device is closed, the front is very clean. There is a large central button. At first I thought this was just a big “okay” button, but commenters told me it had some gesture ability and was also a d-pad. The gestures were too inconsistent for me to really get into, an it’s quite emphatically not a d-pad… however, the area around the large central button IS a d-pad. The integration is awesome — so awesome I initially missed it, but if you press the entire facade on any side, it will tilt down and register a button click. Very nice!

But they’re not done! The facade also holds 4 buttons. The first, “home” sorta brings you home. I’m not sure what “home” means to this device, as it doesn’t bring you back to the Today Screen the way an iPhone does the Home screen, at least not consistently. Sometimes it brought me “back” instead, which is strange given that the next button is “back”.

Since the Android G1, I’ve really liked the idea of a “back” button. It works well here, especially when you’re new and you sometimes take a wrong turn, or when you’re moving in a rush and hit a wrong app or function.

The last two buttons are an upside down, and downside up phone. These are what, on other devices, are usually the green and red “phone” buttons. I like the minimalism of the HTC design, if not the penetrability of the iconography. Like other Windows Mobile handsets, the left “phone” button sends you to the call app, and the right “phone” button ends a call… and takes you to the Today screen (memo to Redmond: the home button is a great idea, and a better usability experience).

Strangely, none of these buttons turned (woke) the device for me. None of them. Only the top “power” button did that. I’m not sure if I prefer this to the Treo Pro’s seemingly random “every button but center and okay” with “center to unlock” arrangement. Like many things, there are some advantages, some drawbacks.

Oh, and it has volume and PTT (push to talk). I miss the Treo Pro (and iPhone) mute button.

Keyboard

Star Destroyer class. I’ll say it again, this keyboard has everything imaginable on it. I’m not a fan of sliders. The way I type, the less “travel” the better, so the traditional Treo (i.e. 650) keyboard is more to my liking, but it’s hard to hate the FUZE when it’s almost as full as a Netbook!

Compared to the G1, the feel of the FUZE keyboard felt better to me, and the lack of a “chin” was a huge plus. Again, since hard keyboard can’t change to reflect state (i.e. when you hit shift or alt, the key doesn’t change to show you exactly what you’ll be typing) it did cause some self-doubt in password fields, but that’s an uncommon enough situation. Also, since the keyboard slides in and out, it can be hidden when you don’t need it. That’s an advantage over the front-facing Qwerty’s, but it comes at the price of making a really thick phone. I found it a bit chunky, but it won’t be a deal breaker for most.

Screen

Bright and beautiful, it reminds of the G1’s absent the capacitive touch. Since it’s a touch screen device, that means it makes you really want to touch it, but resistive technology is outdated enough to make it a less than premium experience. Instead of tapping and flicking like on an iPhone or G1, you have to press hard enough to smush the layers together, or press and drag hard enough for them to register movement. After the iPhone and G1 experience, it’s like touch in quicksand. This is something we’ll revisit when you meet TouchFlo 3D.

Fit and Finish

The fit an finish isn’t quite up there with the Treo Pro in that I think Palm looking over their shoulder made HTC sweat the details more. Yet it remains a solid device with an interesting faceted back plate (identical, far as I could tell, to the its eponymous “diamond” cousin). One interesting addition, however, is that the stylus on this device is magnetic, so when you pull it out, the FUZE automagically turns on, as it does when you slide out the keyboard. Given the paucity of buttons with which to wake it, these are both excellent touches.

Windows Mobile TouchFlo 3D

I joked in my video that TouchFlo 3D should more properly be named “Press Really Hard and Stammer 2D” and I stand by that. As a user experience goes, it mixes brilliant animation with resistively-challenging control and inconsistent gestures to truly confusing ends.

I love the visuals. The visuals are killer. Introduced after the iPhone, it’s obvious HTC decided to take the fight to Apple on the iCandy front, and when you consider the bright, vivid animations, the results are just gorgeous. Mad props to HTC’s design firm (which I think they recently bought out — smart move!)

Taken as set pieces alone, I’ll go so far as to say that in some cases they look even better than the iPhone’s older alternatives. For example, I love the weather app. The animating clouds and rain — or snow in Montreal’s case now — are stupendous and I’d love nothing more than for Apple (or a 3rd party weather app) to steal them immediately.

The picture and contact apps are likewise beautiful.

The music app would garner similar praise if not for the downright awkward integration of the control buttons along the right side. Surely something more fitting the rest of the design could be worked up?

Bringing it all home, literally, we have the Today screen which I must admit is a bit of a let down. It’s still very pretty, but the huge clock means there’s not as much room for the actual “today” content I’ve always loved from Windows Mobile. I’m sure it, like everything else, can be tweaked, but it’s a strange choice for the default.

Since the iPhone has no built-in Today app, the programs tab for the FUZE is the closest match for the iPhone’s Home screen. (I am ignoring the entire secondary program tab AT&T injected into the experience — and WMExperts will give you helpful instructions for defenestrating it entirely if you so choose). Opera is where my focus was — though it turns out it wouldn’t run off AT&T. Bummer.

Now for the negatives. As previously stated, touch on a resistive devices is like moving in quicksand after you’ve had a chance at a capacitive device. WMExperts will also tell you how to tweak preferences to speed this up, but check out my introduction for why I won’t bother with that. Given the technology, that’s understandable. What’s unforgivable, however, is the poor usability chosen for TouchFlo 3D. My video shows this off better, but basically there’s no consistency from one interface to the next. For mail, you have to start by swiping down. For photos, you have to start by swiping up. For music, even though the album art is presented horizontally, you need to swipe vertically. Going back to photos, once you swipe up and press really hard to choose your photo (yes, I know, use my nail, not my finger — fine!), you then have to swipe sideways to move between photos.

And the tab bar itself? Don’t get me started. It’s stroke-inducing to use from a pure touch point of view. Not only is it more random application generator than launcher, compounded by the above inconsistency, if you ever gesture in a way incorrect for the exact application you’re on at the time, the tab bar will gleefully decide you meant to engage said random app generator, and send you on a quick journey to precisely somewhere else.

Very frustrating.

Also frustrating, just when you’re getting used to the fresh, modern, 2008 UI of TouchFlo 3D, it will dump you back out into the cold, archaic, 1999 UI of Windows Mobile 6.1. It’s an entirely different user experience and frankly, it’s jarring. It’s bait-and-switch. It’s “she ain’t pretty she just looks that way” gone wired.

I previously said HTC should take TouchFlo and rather than slap it over Windows Mobile, turn it into a complete Samsung Instinct-type OS. I was only half joking. If they could get more consistent with the gestures, add a capacitive screen, and get rid of the Windows Mobile sword of Damocles, they could have a really compelling offering on their hands.

Windows Mobile Redux

Here are some screen shots. Tweak your hearts out.

Conclusion

See introduction. I wasn’t sure how many would actually make it this far, so I pulled a little bait and switch of my own.

But there’s more: After two devices in so many weeks, Windows Mobile has failed to win me over. It’s powerful, yes, and configurable, bless it’s kernel, but it’s just not for me, not any more. Maybe Windows 7 will change my mind, but I think Microsoft’s mind needs changing first. Ballmer says (in between monkey boy dances, no doubt), that Microsoft “just keeps coming and coming and coming” and that’s certainly true, but they need to get there soon or the smartphone train will have left the station.

I think I’m going to officially toss my hat into the ring of those who think a ZunePhone (Xphone?) wouldn’t be a bad idea, but I’m going to throw an even bigger hat into an even bigger ring and say Microsoft needs to leverage Microsoft.

Apple provides a 360 degree ecosystem for the iPhone. If Microsoft could just get their multi-marketplace’d ducks in a row and offer seamless integration from Azure Cloud to Server backend to Windows Desktop to Xbox console to Zune mobile (with consistent branding to go with it, b’okay?)… well, I’d be very worried for their competitors.

As it currently stands, however, it’s old gen tech that doesn’t play nice even with it’s own. Great if you’re anticipating Cylon invasion, not so great if you’re a smartphone platform in 2008.

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

Round Robin: TiPb vs. HTC FUZE Final Review

UPDATED: CrackBerry Kevin Joins iPhone Live!-Cast Tonight at 8pm EST!

UPDATE: Yup, you read the new title right, CrackBerry Kevin — the addict himself — will be joining us LIVE tonight to talk — you guessed it — BlackBerry Storm vs. iPhone 3G! Don’t miss it!

Just a reminder, folks, we kick off the next iPhone Live! tonight (Wednesday, Dec. 10) at 8pm EST/5pm PST. (We’ll actually start broadcasting a little earlier tonight, if we can, so you can share in the pre-show with us!)

Topic is still being finalized — we’re trying to line up a very special guest — but we’ll of course be taking your questions. Leave them in the comments below, on Twitter @theiphoneblog, or chat live with us tonight!

Join in via http://www.tipb.com/live

(For those unable to attend, remember we’ll be recording the audio and adding it to the Phone Different Podcast feed, so never fear — we’ve got you covered!)

Chat with you soon!

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

UPDATED: CrackBerry Kevin Joins iPhone Live!-Cast Tonight at 8pm EST!

Very useful iPhone tips

Filed under: Hardware, Tips and tricks, iPhone

The blog Tap Tap Tap has posted a wonderful list to 10 iPhone tips and tricks you should know, including taking a screenshot (here's our how-to on that trick) enabling caps lock and customizing the home button's function. Definitely check it out.

While we're on the topic, here are a few of our own favorites

• The homescreen shortcut in firmware 2.2. With a click of the home button, you can jump to your first home screen.
• How to enable passcode protection. It's bad enough that you left your iPhone at the post office. At least the shmoe who finds it won't be able to call China.
• Pause an application download. Because sometimes you just don't have a free 90 seconds.
• Go Geocaching with an iPhone 3G. Who needs an additional GPS decive?

Is your favorite trick not on either list? Let us know!

Very useful iPhone tips originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Very useful iPhone tips originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Could the Next iPhone Have 802.11n Super Fast WiFi?

The current generation of iPhone, iPod Touch, and pretty much all mobile devices max out at last generation 802.11g WiFi speeds. Could the next generation finally catch up? They’d need something that packed all that speed and range into a pretty tiny chip… Luckily, Engadget says such a chip is already becoming available:

Broadcom has announced its BCM4329, one of the first mobile 802.11n solutions on the block. On top of delivering up to 50Mbps of real-world WiFi throughput on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, the darned thing throws in Bluetooth, an FM receiver, and an FM transmitter, too — in other words, everything but the kitchen sink, where the “kitchen sink” is the cellular radio itself.

Since TiPb is still predicting an iPhone HD for 2009, and 802.11n was part of that prediction (we’ll need it to stream 800×480 video!), we’ll just say it right now: yes please!

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

Could the Next iPhone Have 802.11n Super Fast WiFi?

Hockenberry: An Open Letter to Steve Jobs on App Store Pricing

Not content to simply produce great (and great looking) software, Craig Hockenberry continues to knock it out of the park on his furbo.org blog as well, this time with an open letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs on App Store Pricing:

As an iPhone developer who’s been in the App Store since its launch, I’m starting to see a trend that concerns me: developers are lowering prices to the lowest possible level in order to get favorable placement in iTunes. This proliferation of 99¢ “ringtone apps” is affecting our product development.

This is something we’ve been following on TiPb, and something that both interests and concerns us greatly. The App Store is quite literally a killer app on the iPhone, but competition of revving up from all sides, including Android Market and the BlackBerry series of offerings.

Check out Hockenberry’s complete article, and let us know what you think Apple could do to properly incentivize developers to make the next Excel, the next Quark, the next killer app?

Or should they? Do you prefer your $0.99 apps, and don’t really care if we ever see anything more?

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

Hockenberry: An Open Letter to Steve Jobs on App Store Pricing