Google Dumps iGoogle for iPhone: Huhbuwhy?!

Christina Warren from TUAW wrote on Twitter that Google recently dumped the iPhone optimized version of iGoogle and now simply redirects users to a generic mobile version instead. What in Google’s green earth could they be thinking?

One of our readers, Jesse, wrote in to share this forum post from Google employee, Paul:

“Hey everyone, I have an update for you. We’ve decided to direct iPhone users to the standard mobile iGoogle page. We’ve found that people hit iGoogle from lots of different phones — we want to ensure you’ll all see the same version.

Most or all of your existing content should translate over to the standard mobile version. The only exception would be any gadgets that aren’t compatible with most mobile browsers.

We’ve got several articles in our Help Center about the mobile experience on iGoogle, which you can find in our Help Center [link].”

Lowest common denominator much?

Jesse also let us know that Jailbreak users have a workaround: spoofing their browser via the Cydia app, Useragent Faker.

So is this Google playing it fair, playing favorites for Android (which still has functioning Gmail according to Christina, unlike the iPhone or BlackBerry), or just doing the mobile equivalent of re-coding all sites to standardize on the original version of Netscape?

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

Google Dumps iGoogle for iPhone: Huhbuwhy?!

Joz on Gaming: Head of iPhone Marketing on the App Store, SDK, and More

Apple’s VP of iPhone and iPod Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiack, chatted with the UK’s Edge Online about all things iPhone (and iPod touch!) gaming, and he once again shows us the power of perspective. While some might find the iPhone SDK limiting in terms of Apple’s tight control and opaque approval process, Joz argues that, in some ways, its far more open than gaming handsets:

some of the game guys have told us that they love the experience here because, on a product like a DS or a PSP they’re very limited in what they can do, because they have to get the permission of a Sony or a Nintendo who might say, “No, we don’t want another example of that game,” or maybe because they’re creating such a game themselves, so it’s a lot more tightly controlled. Here, if they’ve got a great idea for a great game, they can just go for it, and that’s actually worked very much to our favour.

Joz shares his thoughts on the design of the iPhone, the SDK, App Store pricing, and many other issues as well. Given that the App Store has just passed 15,000 applications and half-a-billion downloads, with games no doubt accounting for a high percentage of those, the entire article is definitely a worthwhile read.

Check it out, and let us know whether you agree or disagree with Joz’s point of view…

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

Joz on Gaming: Head of iPhone Marketing on the App Store, SDK, and More

Newtonica Review

One of the first apps I ever owned on the iPhone was an app called Newtonica. Newtonica was released on August 25, 2008 and it's a pretty simple game. It got great reviews in Japan so I wanted to see what it was all about...Basically you use the touch screen ...

iBlueToothProject Team Release SweetTooth App - Aims to Get all Missing Bluetooth Profiles Working on the iPhone

TiPb SMASH: the iPhone and Multitasking Misconceptions

There seems to be some confusion out there about the iPhone and multitasking, no doubt fueled by the way Apple handled — and is still handling — all things iPhone. Just to be clear, the iPhone multitasks quite well, thank you very much.

While listening to music, you can receive a phone call, take the call, jump into Safari, Google for an image, save the image to your camera roll, jump into Photos, choose the image, hit the “+” and choose to email the image, fill in and send the email, etc. and when the call is over, your music will fade seamlessly back in.

Steve Jobs showed a simpler version of that when he first introduced the iPhone back at Macworld 2007. Even today, you can begin a new iTunes 3G music download, jump into a Twitter app, tweet a response, and jump back to iTunes and see your download still progressing.

So from where does this confusion come?

Apple only allows their own built-in apps like Email, Phone, etc. to multitask (Daring Fireball posted a nice list on which ones a while back). In the current SDK (Software Development Kit — what people use to write iPhone App Store programs), the licensing prohibits everyone else from multi-tasking. So, no 3rd party IM, Twitter, internet radio, etc. applications can stay on once the user hits the home button.

Apple’s Push Notification Service was supposed to work around this by sending status alerts (badges like unread message counter on Email, pop-ups, or alarms like Calendar events) from Apple’s servers, but while this was promised for September ‘08, it was yanked from iPhone OS 2.1 Beta 4 and hasn’t been heard from since. Rumor has it Apple is afraid — for good reason — of repeating it’s near-disastrous MobileMe launch, and would rather delay it than get it wrong. Developers we’ve spoken to agree - no one wants to handle customer support calls based on a buggy PNS implementation.

Selfishly, we kind of hope Apple doesn’t manage to nail PNS in a timely fashion and is instead forced to open up real multitasking, even if only on a limited basis (i.e. more rigorous approval process). (We’d even like to see a CoverFlow task-switcher while they’re at it.)

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

TiPb SMASH: the iPhone and Multitasking Misconceptions

Slotz Racer now in the App Store

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Deals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Freeverse Games has released their latest iPhone title, Slotz Racer, and it looks like a good one (I've been having a good time lately with their bowling game as well). Despite the name, it's not another tilt-to-turn racer -- this one has you playing slot cars instead of real cars, those little cars and tracks that you got for a birthday once when you were a kid but have never actually had the patience to set up since. The game features a "unique" control system that even allows up to four people to play on one iPhone at a time, and the big draw here is a track editor -- for a 99 cent introductory price (headed up to $2.99 in 72 hours, we're told), you can assemble as many tracks as you like, and you don't even have to buy any those gigantic boxes from KB Toys.

Looks like fun. Freeverse is only publishing here -- the game is developed by a company named Strange Flavour and they've put a nice manual together, along with plenty of tips and tricks to try out. The game is available in the App Store right now for 99 cents, but as we said, the price is heading up to $3 soon (which is still cheap, really, but if you're interested in the game, you might as well save two bucks now). Maybe this is your big chance to finally live your old slot car racing dreams out virtually on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Slotz Racer now in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Slotz Racer now in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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