Red iPhone 3G is real like unicorns and world peace

Apple's corporate font isn't Arial, if you catch our drift.

[Via NowhereElse]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Red iPhone 3G is real like unicorns and world peace originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Soonr cloud-computing app gets down to business

Soonr, set to debut on the App Store Monday, lets you view documents stored on your computer via your iPhone. You can also share, comment on, and print spreadsheets, presentations, and text files.

Macworld San Francisco 2009 Rumor Roundup

With Macworld San Francisco 2009 (MWSF) beginning next week, MacRumors provides this Rumor Roundup as a summary of major rumors circulating around the Mac Web before the event.

The biggest news about Macworld came early when Apple anno...

iMacworld App Update

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

Now that I'm firmly situated in my hotel suite in San Francisco, it's time to get ready for Macworld Expo 2009. A couple of weeks ago iMacworld (click opens iTunes) was announced by IDG and Zami.com as an iPhone helper for Expo-goers.

Version 1.1 of this free app is much improved, with a finalized list of exhibitors, products, and sessions. There are also small banner ads at the bottom of each page that load quickly and give booth numbers for the products advertised. The update also features "stability improvements", although it locked up my iPhone 3G once when I tapped on the link to find a vendor location on a map.

iMacworld is definitely going to be a help as your TUAW team navigates around the Expo to find new and exciting items for you. Be sure to stay tuned all week as we provide coverage of everything happening here in SF...and more!

iMacworld App Update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iMacworld App Update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some iPhone apps are just strange but they still work

Filed under: Productivity, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store

There is no shortage of iPhone dialers. Most work by voice, some by tapping a picture of your contact. Now we get Sensi Dial, [App Store link] an iPhone program that uses gestures to dial your contacts. Gestures? Yep. The idea is with gestures you don't have to look at your phone to reach a contact. Gestures can be taps on the screen or swipes, or a combination of both. You open Sensi Dial, and add the contacts from your address book that you want to assign gestures to. Then save them, and tap the dial button. Use the gesture you assigned to a particular contact, and it gets dialed. You can program in a pause so you have time to bail out of a mistake. If the program isn't sure which contact you mean, it will display multiple contacts and let you tap on the right one.

It's an interesting idea, and the program selling point is that you don't have to look at your screen, which is nice for driving. The reality is that you may have to look at the screen to pick the correct contact if there are multiples, and at least take a glance to see if your phone is calling the right person. As you feel more secure with the program, you may not have to look as much.

I gave Sensi Dial a try, and it pretty much worked as advertised. The tricky part is remembering the gestures you assigned to a person. I wouldn't think you would want a big list of contacts assigned to this app, or you may be swiping when you mean to tap or the other way around. On the screen shot you can see that the third number on the list is composed of two taps, two swipes, and a tap. You can either remember that combination, or just make 2 taps and see all the contacts that start that way. To clear the contacts and start over you shake your phone.

Reviews of the program from users are generally enthusiastic, although the developer is offering a free copy to buyers who write a review for the app store. That might be putting the old thumb on the scale a bit.

Sensi Dial is certainly an alternative way to make a call. It's $1.99US at the App Store. Think about if this kind of method works for you, and be sure to investigate the other dialers available. I think there are at least ten, most using voice. If gestures seems the way to go for your particular use, tap and swipe away.

Some iPhone apps are just strange but they still work originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some iPhone apps are just strange but they still work originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Confirmation of Fixed 17″ MacBook Pro Battery, Mac Mini with Firewire

AppleInsider confirms yesterday's report that the new 17" unibody MacBook Pro will arrive with a fixed non-removable internal battery.

In what's sure to be a controversial move on the part of the Mac maker, those familiar with the new...

Tips and How-To’s: iPhone Music Management

I have a 160GB iPod Classic that is almost filled to the brim with media: songs, podcasts, movies, tv shows, and photos. Just in music alone, I could fill my 16GB iPhone 3G many times over. I wish my iPhone had 32GB or, heck, since we’re wishing, I’ll go for 120GB or the equivalent of my iPod. Alas, I have 16GB to work with and I want to carry plenty of apps, photos, podcasts, and videos with me and there’s little room around the edges to squeeze in some of my favorite tunes. However, there is a way to keep your music fresh and updated so it seems like you are carrying far more music on your iPhone than you may have thought. Read on to find out how!

The secret to making your iPhone feel like a 160GB iPod Classic juggernaut is just a few mouse clicks away on your iTunes. Just click on “File” in iTunes, then New Smart Playlist. See where this is going? When you select New Smart Playlist, you can customize a playlist and instruct your iTunes about what music to look for and then keep your iPhone updated with a constant flow of fresh material. It’s a bit like rotating your entire music collection through your iPhone a 100 songs (or whatever you want) at a time.

You can get quite specific with your selection of music. You can instruct iTunes to seek out and load music that has been most recently played or least recently played. You can set the rules for iTunes to follow - like using the rating system in iTunes to select only music that you have given a 1 - 5 star rating. What, you mean you haven’t rated your music?

Well, if you’re like me, you haven’t paid much attention to the rating system or even cared to know why it’s there. If you take the time, though, and rate your favorite music, then your Smart Playlist can become much more meaningful as iTunes searches your music library for songs that you have rated. To rate your music, just click in the Rating column next to the songs you want to rate and then give them a rating, anywhere from one to five stars. In the Smart Playlist, if you set the range to include only your most favorite songs, then you can expect your Smart Playlist (and thus your iPhone) to always rotate your favorite songs each time you sync.

Smart Playlists aren’t just limited to songs. You can instruct iTunes to select all kinds of media, like podcasts, to be added to your Smart Playlist and then synced with your iPhone for your enjoyment. In this manner, you can rotate your media from the vast reservoirs of storage on your desktop or laptop to the limited space on your iPhone, always keeping it fresh. If you haven’t played around with your Smart Playlist, give it a try today and post your feedback in Comments. You might find a way to use this feature that works well for you and then feel free to share it with the rest of us!

 

 

 

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

Tips and How-To’s: iPhone Music Management

iPhone apps round-up: Business tools for the New Year

Instaviz turns your sketches into graphs, while iMNotes promises over-the-air access to sticky notes for Microsoft Exchange users.

iPhone 3G Unlock Updated: yellowsn0w hits 0.9.5

The iPhone Dev Team is still hard at work on their beta, pre-release version of the yellowsn0w process which runs on Jailbroken iPhone 3G’s to unlock the devices from their carriers. The latest, 0.9.5 is working for some folks right now, but others are still experiencing problems including the inability to make outgoing calls (signal drops off). If you’re trying and failing, be sure to give the Dev Team your feedback.

In addition, the Dev Team is also girding themselves, and their code, to fend off those who violate the yellowsn0w (and pwnage) license and try to make a buck by re-selling the Dev Team’s work to unsuspecting web surfers. Whether you can really go after someone for abusing the license on a unlocking process that is designed to let people abuse the license of locked products shows just how complicated both commercial and non-commercial protectionism and freedom movements have become.

If you’re unlocked, or trying to unlock, let us know how it’s going for you. If you have any opinions on the debate around freeing commercial hardware and commercializing free software, drop us a comment as well!

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

iPhone 3G Unlock Updated: yellowsn0w hits 0.9.5

Hacked iPhone works with Bluetooth Keyboard

Step-by-Step Guide to Unlock iPhone 3G