Wilson iBooster signal amplifier for iPhone: Hands-On

Whether it's the carrier, the hardware or the environment you're in, there are plenty of reasons why using your iPhone can be an exercise in frustration. Poor signal strength impacts everything from making and receiving calls to your data connection; that's why Wilson Electronics' iBooster is so tempting. Promised to ...

What?! Apple allows 3rd party browsers into App Store!

Since Apple said no to Opera Mini browser because it copies a feature that the iPhone already has in place, it's a really big surprise to get noticed that Apple suddenly allows third party browsers put into the App Store. These new 'lucky' applications include: Edge Browser (free), Incognito ($1.99),  ...

Breaking News in the ’09s: iPhone and Twitter

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

Starting out with Objective-C

Filed under: Books, Developer, iPhone

I recently decided to embark on a personal challenge to learn Objective-C (the programming language behind Mac and iPhone applications) so that I could one day get applications into the App Store. I'm not looking to make millions with a fart machine app, but I do want to see some of my ideas come to fruition and end up on some iPhones. While we've previously mentioned how to delve into programming in Objective-C, there have been some recent releases of educational materials that can help those who want to learn the language:

Programming in Objective-C 2.0 (book, $44.99)

This is the latest release of Stephen Kochan's series which some consider to be the Objective-C bible. It has a wealth of information jammed into almost 600 pages, and it will take you from simple variable assignments to advanced class implementation. I'm over halfway through this book, and the text is easy to read (not too high level), and is broken up in a visually appealing style with sufficient whitespace to be gentle on your eyes. If you're only interested in programming for the iPhone, you may only want to rely on this book for its wealth of foundational Objective-C material as it only has one chapter devoted to the iPhone.

Continue reading Starting out with Objective-C

Starting out with Objective-C originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Starting out with Objective-C originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone apps round-up: iSale auction manager gets iPhone add-on

iSale mobile lets you create templates for online auctions when you’re out and about; sync them up with the desktop version of iSale when you’re back at your desk.

Intel Atom-Based Mac Mini Due in March?

Tom's Hardware reports that the expected Mac mini refresh will be coming in March and will be based on NVIDIA's new Ion platform utilizing Intel's dual-core 1.6 GHz Atom 330 processor. The Ion platform, announced in mid-December, also utilizes the G...

iPuppy brings the cute, forgoes the mess

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch

iPuppy 3D Pet [App Store link] is currently going for $.99 on the App Store. Is it worth it? Well, it depends on how much you really need a 3D puppy on your iPhone. The concept conjures images of Dogz for the Nintendo DS. While the dogs may look the same, the functionality is vastly different. Currently the Chihuahua is your only choice of breed within the app, although there's currently a free Husky puppy [App Store link] available. I picked up the Chihuahua weeks ago when it was free.

The puppy is cute enough, and the animations are quite good. Left to herself (taking a guess on the gender), the puppy will trot around a small room, scratch the floor, bark a little and generally be a puppy. Once in a while it'll get bored and yawn in a very cute manner. According to MASQ Interactive, you should have control of the camera, but all I could do was spin the camera. There's not very fine camera control in swipe/panning or pinch/zooming.

Aside from loose camera controls, the app is quite simple. You can tap the puppy to make her sit, lie down, stand up. I was able to make her sit, then a swipe made her roll over. I was then able to "rub" her belly, causing little hearts to pour out in a blatant attempt for more affection. I couldn't find much more interaction outside of these simple tap-and-rub actions and the three on-screen buttons. There's a button for "washing" the puppy (a gentle rain appears and afterward the puppy shakes it off). There are buttons for changing outfits, although you're just tapping through the options, not choosing them directly as in SuperPoke Pets [App Store link]. Lastly, there's a food button which makes a dish of slop appear. The puppy is a noisy eater, be prepared. Oh, there is one more thing: you can shake the iPhone and flowers fall around the puppy. It's pretty pointless.

So is all this worth $.99? If you're looking for a simple diversion for kids or you just can't resist having a Chihuahua in your pocket, then yes. If you're looking for a virtual Furby, then probably not. At least, not now. MASQ seems quite intent on (as they say in their description) releasing updates every two to three weeks until "everyone are 100% satisfied" (sic). Perhaps in a few weeks you'll be able to put a leash on the thing or whack it with a virtual newspaper. Until then, it's a very simple, if cute, "pet" app.

iPuppy brings the cute, forgoes the mess originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPuppy brings the cute, forgoes the mess originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VoIP iPhone Apps to Watch Out for: Skype’s iPhone App and New Version of Truphone with Skype Support

iPhone games summit planned for SF in March

The iGames Summit 2009 gathers developers, executives and investors together under one roof for half a day in March in San Francisco to talk about iPhone game development.

iPhone apps: Fool’s good for developers?

Selling mobile apps on Apple’s iPhone App Store may seem like a surefire recipe for success. It isn’t, InfoWorld’s Bill Snyder warns.

Apple Seeks Trademark on “OS X” By Itself

AppleInsider dredged up 6 month old trademark applications by Apple indicating that they were seeking trademark protection for the term "OS X" without the word "Mac" preceding it.

The Cupertino-based company initially filed for its ...

What Apple could learn from Palm’s webOS

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/What_Apple_could_learn_from_Palm_s_webOS_2'; In case you missed the keynote, Palm took some special moments to let everyone know that they're not trying to compete with Apple -- which is of course exactly what they're doing with the Pre and webOS. Sure, there's plenty of room in the market for multiple operating systems and manufacturers, as both companies have pointed out, but we can't help but think that Palm took a long hard look at where Apple was at with its ultra-successful mobile OS and what they could improve upon, and we would like to assume that Apple is looking very carefully at webOS right now (and hopefully the Pre's physical keyboard, but we're dreamers) and comparing it with its current iPhone OS. So, if you'll indulge us, let's look at a few of the iPhone's existing shortcomings that Apple might try and shore up -- or perhaps already has fixes in the works for -- now that there's some very serious competition on the scene. Plus, with Steve on the sidelines, we can imagine there's some extra pressure on the company to prove that innovation at Apple is not just about one man.

These are by no means the only two phones that matter right now, but there are enough parallels and common ancestry (a certain John Rubinstein) to make this a natural first round of comparison. All the magic happens after the break.

Continue reading What Apple could learn from Palm's webOS

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

What Apple could learn from Palm's webOS originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speed Brain for the iPhone: Exercise Your Brain!

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!

First Look: iStat for the iPhone

Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

My very favorite Dashboard widget is iSlayer's iStat Pro. It is invaluable for figuring out how fast Internet connection is moving, tracking down what processes are hanging up the system and monitoring CPU usage.

But what if you want to monitor your systems performance remotely? What if you have a Mac server and you want to keep track of the memory and network usage? This is exactly what iStat for the iPhone was designed to address. Bjango (the new venture from part of the iSlayer team) was nice enough to let me try the app before it hits the App Store, and put it through the paces.

This is how it works:

You install the lightweight iStat Server deskop app (you need to be running Mac OS X 10.4 or higher) and then you run the iStat app for the iPhone to connect it to your Mac.

If you are on the same local network, Bonjour will take care of everything, you'll see your computer name on a list and you just need to enter in the passcode displayed in the iStat Server app to access your data.

If you are connecting to a remote server, just enter in the IP address and port number (the default is port 5109) and your passcode and you're good to go.

The iStat program will show you information on your iPhone or iPod touch and any computers or servers that you've configured with your device.

Take a look at the gallery and read on (the next page) for more details.

Continue reading First Look: iStat for the iPhone

First Look: iStat for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: iStat for the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LCD alarm clock for your iPhone

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

Oh no! Another alarm clock app for the iPhone. No shortage of these at the app store, but I am always impressed at the variety and creative approaches these apps take. Many combine the clock and alarm into one application, so you can leave your iPhone in the charger and have a nice desktop clock as well as an alarm.

A just-released app for the iPhone and iPod touch is LCD Clock from Japanese developer forYou inc. The app, called LCD Clock [App Store link] has several functions, including display of holidays (U.S. and Japanese), 12 or 24 hour time display, a choice of 4 colors for the clock and calendar, support for landscape as well as portrait orientation, and the ability to disable auto-lock so the display stays running. Be sure to activate that only when then iPhone is charging or you'll eat through your battery quickly. I had trouble finding the settings menu, and it turns out they are not in the app, but in the main iPhone settings menu. You can change colors and set the alarm from within the app.

I didn't find the screen displays particularly striking. I liked Touch Flip Clock [App Store link] a bit better for a more interesting design, but the on-screen controls are in Japanese. For something a bit more traditional there is an old style clock in the AA01 Led Time [App Store link] app.

My favorite clocks for the iPhone are apps that emulate the look of the old Nixie Tube units. Here's one, Nixie Clock A, [App Store link] that looks nice and supports an alarm.

All the clocks discussed are US$0.99 which seems to be the going rate, although there are some free ones [App Store link] around. Improvements I'd like to see in the clocks I've mentioned would be the ability to choose a music track for an alarm, just not the standard rings and buzzers. There are lots and lots of clock/alarms for the iPhone and iPod touch. It's really just a matter of finding one that suits your needs and personality.

If you are looking for an alarm clock app for your mac, TUAW has you covered as well, with an extensive review from Mike Schramm of what is out there.

LCD alarm clock for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

LCD alarm clock for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

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…

A Lethal app for your iPhone

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

OK, the headline is a bit misleading. This app won't kill you; in fact, it's designed to inform you about dangerous situations in your vicinity.

Lethal (click opens iTunes) from Elany Arts takes a location from either the iPhone's built-in location services or a list of 300 cities or parks throughout the USA, then provides you with a "lethal index" number. This number ranges between 0 and 400, with 400 being an extremely dangerous location.

The ranking comes from a composite of four scores based on lethal wildlife, crime, disease, and disaster probabilities in each area. The About screen for Lethal notes that the app is designed for informational and entertainment purposes only, so you should use common sense to guide your use of Lethal.

When I let Lethal determine the index for my home, I was surprised to see that it was 207 out of 400, or "somewhat dangerous". The wildlife index was rather high based on black bears and mountain lions in the area. Yes, we do see them on rare occasions in the area, but I'd be much more concerned about a neighbor taking a potshot at me than getting chewed on by a mountain lion.

Still, Lethal is fun (many comments are obviously tongue-in-cheek) and educational. Whether it's worth the US$1.99 introductory price is up to you. Check out the gallery below for screenshots of Lethal in action.

A Lethal app for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A Lethal app for your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone game roundup: Arcade Bowling, Burning Tires

Here's a roundup of recent gaming additions to the App Store.

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

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

Review: iHangman for iPhone

iHangman is a creative and well-executed offering—easily the best hangman game available in the App Store.