iPhone apps round-up: Wine reviews, Hanukkah apps, and the inauguration

The latest iPhone app releases include WineReviews, iMenorah, iDreidle, and 2009 Presidential Inauguration Guide.

Macworld Fallout: Organizer Talks, Apple Walks, Community Balks

The news is still fresh (and painful): No Steve-Note at this year’s Macworld Expo an no Apple from next year on. Reaction over the intertubes has been fast and in some cases furious. Here’s a quick sampling:

• Paul Kent of Macworld Expo responded with a non-response, which is probably all he really could do: “We look forward to many successful years of Macworld to come.”
• Jason Snell of Macworld Magazine (same parent, different company) thinks it might be better for the show: “And yet every year, those same companies schlep out to San Francisco to announce their next big products—and find their announcements completely washed away by whatever Steve Jobs announced on Tuesday morning. Completely washed away.”
• Jim Goldman of CNBC says the reasons are purely political, not health related: “Apple has been trying to separate itself from Macworld for some time, preferring instead to host its own “special events” a few times a year.” (er… um, that sounds more strategic than political, but who are we to analyze people’s headlines?)
• Jesus Diaz at Gizmodo says Apple has always wanted out of Macworld, but thinks no Steve-note is just one more step on Jobs’ road to retirement: “The simplest explanation, following previous events, is that canceling MacWorld and having Phil Schiller to present it is just another part of His Plan. This doesn’t mean that he is leaving the company tomorrow, however. it is just one more step towards that goal, as I explained back in October.”

Read on for more, after the break!

• Harry McCracken of Technologizer points out that we now get the battle of the second stringers: Ballmer instead of Gates at CES vs. Schiller instead of Jobs at Apple.
• BusinessWeek’s Peter Burrows cries health and asks: “Here we have a company with $27 billion in the bank, that gets massive, global exposure from a talk that rarely lasts two hours. If Apple can’t see the ROI in Macworld, what company can justify the tradeshow bill?”
• Macalope drives mythical horns into his carcass and points out the stupid is beginning with: “Apple gets “massive, global exposure” when it sneezes. They’re the perfect example of a company that doesn’t need a trade show. Why go to all this trouble when all people have to do to learn more about your products is wander into one of your stores or open up a newspaper?”
• Owen Thomas at ValleyWag speculates that Jobs’ ultimate control freakishness is out of control, and was brought to a head by BusinessWeek’s speculation: “Amidst that kind of worry, why would Jobs take the stage again? He’d have the fit of his jeans and the flushness of his cheeks debated on blogs in the kind of minute detail that used to be reserved for a new Apple laptop. Showing up in the wrong condition might be as bad for Apple as not showing up at all.”
• John Gruber at Daring Fireball brings back a post from the archives after Apple cancelled its participation in Macworld Boston/New York: “So, to sum it up, the twice-yearly Expos (1) cost Apple millions of dollars; (2) put a lot of pressure on the company to make major product announcements on the Expos’ schedule, not when the products are actually ready; (3) are not under Apple’s direct control.”
• Our own editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn, worries that it will hurt the Mac community. The lack of Apple’s participation could end the show, which would end an important venue for face-to-face time for new developers, smaller vendors, and the new generation of starry-eyed Apple fans just getting into the ecosystem.
• TiPb couldn’t help but notice Jobs and Apple bailed right after the DevTeam announced they’d soft-unlocked the iPhone 3G. Coincidence? Or “Apple announces that if you’re not going to play nice with their iPhone Platform, they’re going to take their conference and go home”
• Lastly, some dark humor, pointing out Apple’s next big move: Canceling Christmas.

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

Macworld Fallout: Organizer Talks, Apple Walks, Community Balks

Apple’s Macworld Exit Due to Politics Not Health Issues?

Apple announced today that 2009 would be Apple's last year participating in Macworld Expo and that Phil Schiller, not Steve Jobs, would deliver the final keynote address. Understandably, speculation has been directed towards health concerns about S...

Apple: Jobs Will Not Present at Apple’s Final Macworld Keynote

Apple has announced that Steve Jobs will not deliver the opening keynote presentation at the upcoming Macworld Expo in San Francisco on January 6th, 2009. Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will take the sta...

Official: No Steve-Note at Apple’s LAST Macworld

And lo, Steve Jobs opened the 7th seal, and there was silence at Macworld.

Apple just made it official folks, Phil Schiller will be presenting the Keynote, and after that, Apple will no longer be attending Macworld, leaving WWDC as possibly the only show big left for Apple and Steve Jobs.

Is this the end of an era, or the beginning of something new? Does no Steve-note mean no Macworld for anyone? What will this do to expectations? And will it make Apple’s “special events” even more special?

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

Official: No Steve-Note at Apple’s LAST Macworld

Review: CameraBag for iPhone

CameraBag lets you apply nine filters to photos on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Safari Addon Plugins brings Some Missing Features to iPhone’s Safari Browser

Deal of the Day: AT&T Now Selling Refurbished iPhone 3G’s

If you were waiting for a price drop to pick up your own iPhone 3G, now might be your only chance. AT&T is now offering refurbished iPhone 3G’s on their website. 8GB’s are going for $149.99 and 16GB’s can be picked up for $249.99. Of course these prices require a 2 year service agreement.

Just a heads up on refurbished devices from AT&T:

Refurbished Phones and Devices Refurbished phones are previously owned devices that have been unused or lightly used and returned during the 30-day trial period. Each refurbished phone is independently quality tested and loaded with the latest software to meet current factory standards. Some refurbished iPhone 3G devices will have minor scratches. Refurbished iPhone 3G devices carry a warranty of 90 days or more. For details about the warranty on your refurbished iPhone 3G go to www.apple.com/support/oss/.

So what do you think? $50 price cut on a refurb make you want to finally bite the bullet? Let us know!

[Via Engadget Mobile]

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

Deal of the Day: AT&T Now Selling Refurbished iPhone 3G’s

AT&T now selling refurbished iPhone 3G units

If you're looking to grab an iPhone 3G at a savings, you can pick up a discount refurbished unit from AT&T.

TiPb Video: Dropship for iPhone

Looking for a cool retro-arcade action title from what is shaping up to be a leading game developer/publisher on the iPhone? Than look no further than Dropship ($1.99) [iTunes Link] from ngmoco:). 

Premise:

You control a “dropship”. You save humans. You pick up cargo and delivery it safely. You do this in a time limit. 

Controls:

You use very innovative controls for this game. The left side of the screen controls your ship and the right side controls the firing arc. Both the ship and the weapon can fire in a 360 degree motion. Think of the controls as being very similar to Robotron: 2084. If you have played this game, you have an idea how this controls. You can pause the game and return to the menu by tapping the score area located in the top center of the screen.

Gameplay:

You manueover your dropship to collect humans. They appear and yellow have names pulled from your address book. Ensign Bohn, Admiral Ritchie, etc., populate those who you must save! You also must pick up a green package on each level. The challenge is this; you destory the onslaught of turrets, tanks an missiles while you pick up humans, but once you touch the package, you have a timer and all of the enemies on the level reappear! To be fair, once you destroy an enemy it leaves blue dots. These dots not only replenish your energy, but they also add to your score. 

There are a couple types of gameplay; campaign and free-play. Campaign mode unlocks a new level after time you complete one, and free-play I think of more as a challenge mode. You go from level to level, but when you die, you start over. 

One other cool feature; downloadable levels! That’s right! There are three now (two of them are holiday themed) and more are coming.

I really enjoy this game! It is old school with fun controls and is excellent for some pick up and play action or for an hour or two.

Rating: 

 

 

 

 

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

TiPb Video: Dropship for iPhone

Hands-on with Element Case and your chance to win a TUAW version

Filed under: Accessories, Reviews, Stocking Stuffers, iPhone, Holidays

We get a small number of physical products to review around here, and the streets are thick with iPhone cases of every variety -- but Element Case stood out. These aren't generic leather or plastic cases, they are somewhat beefier plastic cases available with metal, carbon or wood accents and sporting magnetic "flip" lids. The added surface area makes it a little easier to play games, especially if you're getting cramps playing Fieldrunner all day. At the end of this review we've got a special-edition TUAW Element Case to give away.

The phone is secure in the case because you have to unscrew the bottom of the case, slide the phone in, and put the screws back in. There are ports along the sides that allow you to access everything you'd normally need: camera, volume, sync cable port. You can't put the phone in the dock, however. The "flip" lid is a piece of plastic with magnets, and those magnets lock onto the screws. The lid attaches to the back of the case when you need access to the screen -- a nice design feature.

I'm not sure all this protection adds any shock absorption, but the phone certainly feels sturdier with a rigid casing on the outside. For games, the added surface area was welcome, even more ergonomic. Speaking of the casing, you can choose a CNC-machined version with a base in aluminum alloy, but my model was the "Liquid" edition, which is injection-molded plastic. There's a slightly fancier plastic model with some wood veneer on the back, plus a nickel-plated model and a very limited-run of the "CRG" model. The only problem with all this is that several of the cases are for the 1st-gen iPhone only (like the CRG), so you'll have to peruse the shop and see what's available. Essentially everything is limited-run, which adds to the cache value of your case, if that's your thing. No designer case would be complete without customization, and Element Case will custom-engrave a design on the lid or back of your case.

Continue reading Hands-on with Element Case and your chance to win a TUAW version

Hands-on with Element Case and your chance to win a TUAW version originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hands-on with Element Case and your chance to win a TUAW version originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iTunes Still Well Ahead of Amazon MP3 Store

Reuters reports on the latest data tracking digital music downloads. Specifically, they look at Amazon's MP3 downloads after a full year of sales. According to their data, Amazon remains a distant second to iTunes:

Major-label sour...

Review: Revisiting iPhone cocktail apps

Cocktails App and 5800+ Drink & Cocktail Recipes Free are a pair of promising App Store offerings that offer up drink recipes and information. But Cocktails and Drinks remain the toast of the App Store.

Prima Cerca (First Look): Cucchiaio d’Argento

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch, First Look

If you like to cook and eat Italian cuisine, this iPhone app will make you very happy. Il Cucchiaio d'Argento (The Silver Spoon) has been the definitive recipe book for traditional Italian cooking for the past 50 years, and now it's available for iPhone.

This cookbook, available in the App Store for US$9.99 or €7.99 (click opens iTunes), features over 250 classic and tested recipes. Updates will add more of the 2,000+ recipes in the cookbook. Many of the recipes include notes about their history or tradition, or provide hints on excellent wines to try as an accompaniment to your meal.

Ingredients are listed in both metric and imperial measures. There's space to add your own notes to recipes; this is helpful when making variations to the standard recipes.

In real-life usage, the app works well. My only complaint is that the "add to shopping list" button only adds the ingredients, not the actual quantity of each item. There's no Mac version of the application, but you can always purchase the analog version of Il Cucchiaio d'Argento from most bookstores and Amazon. Check out the gallery below for more screenshots of the app in action.

Prima Cerca (First Look): Cucchiaio d'Argento originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Prima Cerca (First Look): Cucchiaio d'Argento originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Review: Sonos ZonePlayer 90 with iPhone Controller App

Sonos is a “multi-room music system” that lets you wirelessly stream music to any “zone” in your house either independently or synchronized together using a centralized controller. And, oh yeah, that centralized controller can be an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Chad, with the help of his friend, gave us a first look at using Sonos with the iPhone in lieu of its traditional controller, and raised some great pros (total iPhone control of all music, in every room, of your Sonos-enabled home) and cons (iPhone relegated merely to control, and not leveraged for the media-powerhouse it is in its own right as well) about the experience. So great, in fact, that when Sonos offered TiPb a limited-time demo to test it out, I jumped at the chance.

Since I’m not a Sonos user, not an audiophile, and not particularly interested in struggling anymore with complicated setup procedures, I thought it would be ideal to approach this from a new-user perspective, and one used to the iPhone ecosystem where things (often) “just work”.

How did it go? Find out after the break!

Hardware

Delivered in the Sonos box we received were two ZonePlayer 90s and one ZoneBridge. They were kind enough to offer test speakers, but I had that covered.

ZoneBridge

For Sonos to function, at least one of the ZonePlayers needs to be plugged directly into your WiFi router. If you don’t happen to have your router conveniently located to one of your sound systems, Sonos provides the ZoneBridge. Just hook that up instead and then put your ZonePlayers wherever else you want them. An elegant enough solution until the ZonePlayers can lose that one-hardwire requirement and go pure WiFi, which given the speeds and range of 802.11N shouldn’t be far off. (Right now Sonos prefers to create their own, exclusive Mesh sub-network off the hard-line).

ZonePlayer 90

With the router very close to one of the sound systems I was testing, I could skip the ZoneBridge and plug the ZonePlayer 90 directly into an Airport Extreme. I had to yank out another device to make room for it, but the ZP90 includes a second network jack to give any such de-placed components a new sub-home.

The device itself is nice looking, a white rounded square shape familiar to anyone who likes the Apple aesthetic, and it sits raised on four molded legs. The small size, at 5.4 x 5.5 x 2.9 in, means it doesn’t take up a lot of space and can fit in pretty much anywhere (no doubt, however, someone somewhere will complain it’s not in rack-mount friendly format — thank goodness for that!) The front sports a mute button and a volume rocker, and a second Sonos logo (the first being on the top). Design quibble: the buttons, especially the iconography, isn’t as beautiful as the device itself, and twice as many logos is half as strong branding. (Especially when the brand was already smartly enough chosen to be readable backwards and forwards, upside and down).

The back holds the ports. From the left is power, RCA stereo in and out, 2 network ports, and digital coax and optical out. This means it should support any home theater, stereo system, self-powered speakers, and other similar sound equipment. The RCA in also means iPods (with the audio out cables), DVD players, TVs, etc. can be plugged in and streamed throughout the system as well.

Unlike many Apple products, the ZP 90 came with some cables! Along with the power cord were RCA connectors and a network cable. No digital cables, unfortunately, so BYO coax or optical if that’s how your sound system is set up.

Setup was extremely simple. Just plug the power into the ZP 90, attach a network cable between at least one ZP 90 and your router, and plug in your sound system via any one of the input ports listed above. It took all of a few seconds. If you have more than one ZP 90, the steps are the same as above, minus the hard wire router connection — WiFi only, baby!

ZonePlayer 120

Though we didn’t test one, it should be noted Sonos also has a ZonePlayer 120 available that is similar to the ZP 90 but includes a built in amplifier and direct speaker connections so it can basically serve as its own music system — no pre-existing home theater, self-powered speakers, or other audio source required.

Software

Setup

The Sonos Controller iPhone app is available, of course, from the iTunes App Store. That means it can be downloaded directly to the iPhone or iPod Touch, or downloaded and synced over via iTunes on the desktop.

Note: Sonos has an installation CD that you can load up on your desktop or laptop to setup the system, but since this is an iPhone blog, I skipped this step and decided to with a full on iPhone-only setup.

Once the Sonos Controller app is installed on the iPhone, tapping it gives you the option to set up your zone. If you’ve ever used a setup wizard, you’ll feel right at home. Hold down the mute and volume up buttons on the ZP 90, the iPhone app detects them, and setup is just a few simple taps and roll-selectors away. If you’re setting up more than one zone, which it asks whenever you finish setting up the last on, just repeat the process.

It couldn’t be more simple.

Use

Sonos deserves high-marks for the app. It respects iPhone design and user experience paradigms, looks great, and is easy and most importantly — intuitive to use. Right away they present a very familiar iPhone media browser where you can choose what kind of music you want to listen to, with each choice sliding over narrower sub-options until you ultimately get exactly what you want. This could range from choosing radio to a genre of music to a radio station playing that genre. In addition to internet radio, Sonos (if you install the desktop software) also supports your existing computer-based music collection (though not iTunes DRM-protected content — record label FAIL again!), as well as services like Audible.com, Napter, and select others.

Don’t want to dig through menus? Not a problem. That’s why search was invented, and why the iPhone app supports it. Just type in the title or some keywords and, if it’s available, it will pop right up.

Once you find something, you can easily add it to “favorites” so you can quickly return to it later.

Select which “zones” the music should play in and, once it starts, volume controls are available to get it to just the right level. Each “zone” can be independent — for example an MP3 file can be playing in the bedroom and internet radio could be on in the living room, and the iPhone app offers complete control over both.

Alternatively, “zones” can be combined so that the same content, in perfect synchronicity, and be played in multiple or all “zones” simultaneously. Perfect for that party that refuses to stay contained in a single room.

The interface even shows which “zones” are active, so if power is turned off on one system, you can tell it’s unavailable. Plug it back in, and it pops back up.

The Sonos Controller app even supports queuing, so you can create a on-the-go playlist for your streaming music/sound content.

Again, as Chad said, it would be nice if the iPhone itself could also be set up as a portable “zone”, carrying the same synched content with you around the house, and playing along with the same queue, but if that was an option, we couldn’t find it. Maybe version 2.0?

Conclusion

The Sonos system just works, and with the iPhone controller app, it makes Apple’s amazing convergence device all the more amazingly convergent. Would that my home were bigger, and I had more friends to party with more often (like in all those spy movies where the target is always throwing a huge bash just conveniently that very night — that’s the scale I’m thinking of!)

What Sonos has accomplished with this app right out of the gate is awesome. If anyone already has Sonos and an iPhone or iPod Touch, and doesn’t have this app… what’s the matter with you? Go get it now! If anyone has an iPhone and multiple rooms in which they want a highly scalable, superbly controllable audio experience, Sonos is definitely something to look at (or to ask for as a holiday gift! — perfect timing!)

Pricing and Availability

Sonos is available online via the Sonos Store, or at many fine electronic retailers. MSRP for the ZoneBridge is $99, and the ZonePlayer is $349. Of course, street prices can and often will be lower. Bundles are also available, although I didn’t see any without a controller, which iPhone/iPod Touch owners no longer need. A tad pricier than the previous generation, but these are likely premiums for the latest technology, and will no doubt drop over time as all technology prices do.

Rating

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

Review: Sonos ZonePlayer 90 with iPhone Controller App

Crazy AT&T gets $150 refurb’d iPhone 3G in stock, will club a baby seal if you don’t buy one

If Walmart's $197 iPhone 3G had you salivating, wait until you get ahold of this deal: AT&T has refurbished iPhone 3Gs in stock for a mere $150, effectively doubling your rice and ramen budget for the month should you take the plunge. AT&T claims the refurbs were returned within the 30 day trial period, are quality tested, and might be just a little scuffed up. If you're really feeling wild, there's also a 16GB refurb available for $250. Apple and AT&T are being a little shady on the warranty, stating "90 days or more," as opposed to the standard one year, but that's a risk you and your growling stomach are just going to have to take.

[Via Cnet]

Filed under: Cellphones

Crazy AT&T gets $150 refurb'd iPhone 3G in stock, will club a baby seal if you don't buy one originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WalMart Rumored to Sell iPhones for $99

Earlier this year (October) the website The Boy Genius Report, reported that a tipster notified them that WalMart would be selling iPhones after Christmas and now making this rumor even juicier, is the fact that WalMart would be selling 4GB iPhones for only $99.Keep posted for the latest news ...

FotoTimer iPhone App Review

While the Apple iPhone doesn't have the worlds best camera, it takes decent photos and I do use it quite often. It's also very frustrating as there are absolutely no controls for the camera except orientation and the ability to snap the photo. What is especially frustrating is that it's ...

Ocarina Review: A Real Musical Instrument for the iPhone

When the app store first launched, there were a pretty nice variety of beat box / drum machine type apps. Some of them good, some not so good. Then I started seeing a few keyboard based synths that used the iPhone's touch screen and had some really great sound. But ...

Fake iPhone OS 2.2.1 Image Appears

Hey guys, don’t believe everything that is on the internet. This image that popped up this morning, claiming that they had the first beta of firmware 2.2.1, and it is believed to be fake. Please note that this image is very easy to fake. Now besides the fact that people ...