Google Sync Now Supports iPhone, Windows Mobile

Google has just released a beta version of its new Google Sync service. Google sync will let you automatically keep your Google Calendar, email and contacts synced between your iPhone and Windows Mobile phone automatically. This sync capability was already available on the Blackberry and Symbian S60 powered phones, though ...

Apple iPhone Email Highlight Apps

We get it: Apps are the new Internet. If the recent TV commercials weren’t hint enough, if redesigning the Apple Stores to put them front-and-center wasn’t crystal clear, Apple has sent out an email reminding us that the iPhone Apps, they are good!

Over 15,000 (20,000 but most counts), Apple focuses on ZAGAT TO GO, Flick Bowling, Allrecipes.com, Weightbot, and iHandy Level.

Apple has long said that software, not hardware was their key differentiator, and they’re certainly making sure everyone else knows it as well.

Is it working? Are Apps hooking new buyers the way “just the Internet”-focused advertising hooked previous ones?

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

Apple iPhone Email Highlight Apps

TiPb Readers’ Choice Awards: LAST CHANCE — VOTE NOW!

Hugh Jackman may be hosting the Oscar announcements this Sunday, but TiPb will be announcing YOUR choice for the very best in all things iPhone. That’s right, the voting is almost done, the time is almost up. If you haven’t already, don’t walk — RUN — to our forums and make your voice heard for the TiPb Reader’s Choice Awards!

• Favorite iPhone 2.x Feature of 2008
• Favorite iPhone FIGHT of 2008
• Biggest iPhone FAIL of 2008
• Favorite iPhone Game of 2008
• Favorite iPhone Social Networking App of 2008
• Favorite iPhone Productivity App of 2008
• Favorite iPhone WebApp of 2008
• Favorite iPhone Jailbreak App of 2008
• Favorite iPhone Bluetooth Headset of 2008
• Favorite iPhone Case of 2008

What are you still reading this for?! Go, VOTE!

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

TiPb Readers’ Choice Awards: LAST CHANCE — VOTE NOW!

It’s true, iReddit on the iPhone

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch

reddit, an open source social news aggregator which has garnered a loyal following, has come out with a very slick, very handy little iPhone app for their service. Actually, it's the third one -- according to their blog -- but this one's "official." iReddit brings you the news ... you don't even have to join reddit, your iPhone will start spewing stories of all caliber and ilk at you the moment you launch the app (fortunately, a free account will let you start filtering the stream).

Don't tell the rest of the TUAW team -- many of whom were clamoring to post about iReddit -- but I'd never used reddit.com in any serious fashion until I got in on the iReddit beta. I'm now a frequent reader ... at least on my iPhone. The app itself is much like the website in layout. It's also elegant, responsive and heart-warmingly cute, the cuteness due in large part to the reddit mascot checking the time and tapping its toes while pages load. I'm quite serious when I say that it's one of the best "loading screens" I've ever had the pleasure of using. Articles open in the built-in browser, where you can read them, send them to Safari, e-mail a link, or save them to your reddit account.

The team behind the app is none other than our friends from WWDC, 280 North. You may remember (or be using) their online presentation app, 280Slides. iReddit is another fine accomplishment on the 280 resume. Check it out at the App Store for $1.99US.

Continue reading It's true, iReddit on the iPhone

It's true, iReddit on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's true, iReddit on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How To: Share Multiple Files with MobileMe

How you doing, MobileMe? For weeks, months even, you don’t call, you don’t write, then Microsoft’s My Phone moves into the fixer-upper down the street, and Google Sync starts to cozy up to us, and now you’re back with the 3rd news item in just over a week?

This time it’s a tip on how to share multiple files using the new iDisk File Sharing feature we linked to earlier. Here’s the skinny:

1. Select the files or folders you want to share. (To select multiple files hold down the Command key on a Mac or the Control key on a PC as you click on each one.)
2. Use the Actions menu via the Gear icon in the Toolbar, and select Compress items. This will automatically create a single compressed file named Archive.zip that contains your files or folders.
3. Share Archive.zip file just as you would any other iDisk file. (Before you share it, you can change the “Archive” part of the name to something more descriptive, but keep the .zip extension so the receiver’s computer will know to decompress the files when the receiver opens it.)

Of course, you could likely just archive/zip the files prior to engaging MobileMe, but it’s so nice Apple has expressed some interest. Now how about moving that iDisk love over to the iPhone? You know, there are some mobile features me still want there as well..

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

How To: Share Multiple Files with MobileMe

iShred rocks iPhone with 2,000 chords

Are you a guitar newbie? Or a serious six-string guru? This cool app could turns your iPhone into a guitar. Frontier Design Group has introduced electric guitar application called iShred. "iShred does a few steps further than just allowing you to play guitar on your iPhone," as MacWorld wrote. Users can ...

Google demos offline Gmail for iPhone, Android at MWC

If you were thinking offline Gmail on your desktop was the greatest thing since sliced bread, prepare yourselves people. If an MWC keynote from Google's VP of engineering, Vic Gundotra, is any indication, the same functionality might be coming soon to an iPhone / Android phone near you. Amongst other things, the souped up web app boasts an overhauled interface, supports labels, and of course, offline access. Despite our own hunch that Google's just using black magic and voodoo to make this happen, Gundotra claims that it's all made possible through HTML5 standards -- AppCache being the biggie. This development certainly opens the doors to more offline-enabled web apps in the future -- Docs, anyone?. Of course, we know Apple has a thing about people messing with its own apps, so it's probably going to take some time / knee-breaking to get them to come around, but for some reason, we don't think it'll take as long with Android. There's a demo video available after the break, and please, try to contain yourselves.

Continue reading Google demos offline Gmail for iPhone, Android at MWC

Filed under: Cellphones

Google demos offline Gmail for iPhone, Android at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple tells Copyright Office Jailbreaking iPhone is Illegal; Mozilla & Skype Support EFF’s Request for an Exemption to the DMCA

Review: Army Knife 8-in-1 for iPhone

Army Knife aims to mimic the traditional pocketknife by giving you a set of eight tools. While many features work as advertised, some of the tools fall short at this point.

Aurora Feint devs share their social code in OpenFeint

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Freeware, Internet, Developer, iPhone, App Store, SDK, iPod touch

The folks behind the popular Aurora Feint series of iPhone games have decided to share their work creating a "social MMO" system on the iPhone with other developers. They've just announced a system called "OpenFeint," which other devs will be able to license and use in their own games. OpenFeint will supposedly allow a developer to put together a multiplayer community in an iPhone app, complete with profiles, news boards and chat, in under an hour. They're also providing a server for developers to use, so devs won't have to host their own server software -- they'll just have to make their client work with the existing system.

Wild. It sounds like they're just making the systems they've already developed in their own games available to anyone who wants to use them. Right now, they're looking at a private beta (interested devs can sign up on their site), and eventually the service will be free for a limited number of users, with certain costs as the userbase grows.

The cynical side of us wonders if there's a catch in there somewhere -- presumably, all of the users in OpenFeint will keep their information on the Aurora Feint-owned server, so we'd guess there's a chance that at some point in the future, they could use that list for less-than-honorable actions (Steve Demeter's Onyx Online plan is another service that aims to be platform-wide, which seems to have similar risks). But that's just us being paranoid -- taken at face value, this just seems like one team of indie developers opening up what they've already done to help other devs. Very cool.

Continue reading Aurora Feint devs share their social code in OpenFeint

Aurora Feint devs share their social code in OpenFeint originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Aurora Feint devs share their social code in OpenFeint originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla, Skype support DMCA jailbreaking exemption

The Mozilla Corporation and Skype Communications have both filed papers in support of a proposed DMCA exemption for the jailbreaking of smartphones.

Sygic demos turn-by-turn GPS app at MWC09

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, SDK, Jailbreak/pwnage

One of the most elusive and desired apps for iPhone is turn-by-turn GPS navigation. Just before the iPhone 3G hit the market, we heard that TomTom was developing a GPS navigator. To date, it hasn't shipped. Recently, the focus has been on xGPS, an app that requires a jailbroken iPhone to work.

Since Apple says a) jailbreaking may be illegal and b) the terms of the SDK prohibit "real time route guidance," it seems like it may be a long time before we see legal turn-by-turn on the iPhone. This week, though, there was some light at the end of the GPS tunnel.

At Mobile World Congress 2009 (MWC09) in Barcelona, Spain, Sygic is demoing a version of their namesake GPS navigation software running on an iPhone 3G. According to a post on The iPhone Blog, the Sygic software uses maps from TeleAtlas, the same company that supplies map data for Google Maps. Sygic produces similar software for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.

From the screenshots in the post, the app appears to be similar to what many of us are used to with our TomTom, Garmin, and Magellan car navigation systems. Whether or not Sygic will be lucky enough to get this one into the App Store is unknown, but this app is definitely worth watching.

Thanks to Topper for the tip!

Continue reading Sygic demos turn-by-turn GPS app at MWC09

Sygic demos turn-by-turn GPS app at MWC09 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sygic demos turn-by-turn GPS app at MWC09 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Air Cam Live Video for iPhone

If you’re looking for a way to get video from your webcam onto your iPhone or iPod touch, give Air Cam Live Video a look. It streams video to your mobile device with relative ease.

Tracking the iPhone hype generator

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone, App Store

Fortune's Apple 2.0 got a nice little graph up of just where and when the iPhone's hype machine went into overdrive. There's no question it was a gigantic brand last year, but what's interesting is just how manufactured and "by design" each of those spikes are. B on the chart above is the actual iPhone launch, and E and F are the 3G debut and store launch. Fortune relates point A to the Cisco lawsuit against Apple over the "iPhone" name, but let's be real: that was just part of the story of the gigantic iPhone reveal (which took place one day before, not two).

So the real story here isn't necessarily that Apple masterfully created a smartphone that revolutionized the industry and made tons of money doing it, but that they coordinated a hype machine that marched to their tune whenever they wanted. The red line above, as you can see, is Palm, and while there are a few spikes along that line (probably interest in various new products and releases), there's nothing like the excitement and hype that shoots up around a big Apple event. The iPhone is a feat of engineering in itself, but the hype machine behind it is pretty well-built, too.

Continue reading Tracking the iPhone hype generator

Tracking the iPhone hype generator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tracking the iPhone hype generator originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analysis: Technology, politics keep Flash from iPhone

Adobe and Apple have gone back and forth on the future of Flash on the iPhone, but a number of technical and political obstacles remain in the way.

Microsoft & Nokia CEOh-Snap: iPhone Should Be More Open! AT&T: Then Why Keep Copying It?

Steve Ballmer is the gift that just keeps on grief’ing! Proven wrong about the iPhone already, both the Microsoft CEO and his counterpart at Nokia, Olli-Pekka Kallasvu both decided to take fairly transparent jabs at Apple, who once again didn’t even bother to attend the show. CNet (via MacRumors) has the gory details.

Said Kallasvu (taking a break from iCloning the iPhone App Store):

Apple’s vertically integrated model, where its hardware and software are tightly controlled by the company, further fragmented the market. And he added that what is truly needed is more openness in developing applications.

Said Ballmer, (who’s been getting his own fair share of grief this week over WinPho 6.5):

“I agree that no single company can create all the hardware and software. Openness is central because it’s the foundation of choice.”

One disgruntled European expressed displeasure at all the iPhone talk, asking why it deserved attention when it had only a tiny sub-percentage of the market.

Responded AT&T Mobility chief Ralph de la Vega:

“Because the other 99.5 percent of the industry is trying to copy the iPhone.”

It wasn’t all hugs and kisses from AT&T, though, even with the iPhone providing life support to their bottom line. Jabbed de la Vega:

“The iPhone is a great success, but it would be even better if the applications were interoperable,”

Um, yeah, because then people might actually want to buy those other, less innovative, non-iPhone you have stockpiled in your warehouse?

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

Microsoft & Nokia CEOh-Snap: iPhone Should Be More Open! AT&T: Then Why Keep Copying It?

Because iFarting is serious business

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Odds and ends, Freeware, Apple, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

We were just fine with letting this story dissipate right into the air like so many bad smells, as it's not exactly the most impressive thing to ever happen in the App Store. But in the interests of completionism, we'll bring it to you anyway.

First, there were two apps that made fart noises, called Pull My Finger and iFart. Then, there was allegedly some inappropriate twittering (and shady iPhone reviewing -- we seriously doubt that tons of people want to give five stars to an app about MC Hammer), $50,000 of damages were requested, a "Social Media Expert" (read: "tool") got angry, and eventually a lawsuit was filed, and now every blog and website everywhere is posting that two apps about flatulence are suing each other.

Like we said, not the story out of the App Store that we're most proud to report. But Apple did get mixed up in all of this early on -- Gizmodo reports that the Mothership was approached for a solution, and that it was decided to let the devs fight it out. Maybe if Apple had said early on that applications on the App Store had to do a little more than make fart noises (or that there was already enough farting going on in the store -- what do those other 29 apps have to do with any of this?), the iPhone wouldn't now be known as the premiere device for farting.

But we suppose there's money to be had -- someone out there is buying either or both of these idiotic apps, and as a result, both of these guys are willing to go to court over software that reproduces the sound of passing gas in the hopes of getting even more money, despite the fact that you can simulate the same effect with the human armpit. Can we cut the lawsuits and get to producing some actual software for the platform, please?

Continue reading Because iFarting is serious business

Because iFarting is serious business originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Because iFarting is serious business originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notes from MWC: Copying iPhone, Offline Gmail, Turn by Turn GPS for iPhone

Mobile World Congress 2009 took place this week in Barcelona, Spain bringing together the major players of the mobile phone industry. While Apple chose not to attend, a lot of the talk still surrounded Apple's iPhone. Here are a few notes of intere...

Make contact with First Contact

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

I've said in this space before that I'm not always an enthusiastic gamer, but lately some really cool games have appeared that use the iPhone's capabilities to the max.

A good example is First Contact [App Store link], a new game for the iPhone/iPod touch. The game is US $2.99 and certainly packs a few bucks worth of enjoyment and excitement. The scenario involves protecting your colonies on a distant planet from UFOs, incoming missiles and other dastardly space hardware.

The game is rendered in beautiful 3D and the inferface takes some cues from Google Earth. You can rotate your planet and zoom in or out with finger gestures. You'll need to be doing that, because the incoming nasties can hide behind your planet and you have to keep things moving to protect your colonies. You touch all the targets, and your defense system launches missiles to prevent them from finding their targets. Of course, as the game progresses, you'll be moving pretty fast to keep up with the increasing threat.

You can also shake your iPhone to detonate some screen clearing nukes, and you can post your high scores online to see how you are doing against other players.

A couple of small nits to pick: The instructions were quite hard to read. The text is too small. Another issue is that the pause button is on the lower right of the screen, and frequently while tapping to mark targets, I inadvertently paused the game. On the plus side, if you bail out of the game, you are given the option to resume from where you left off. You'll use that feature a lot, I suspect.

I think you'll get hooked on this game pretty quickly. The aliens get more numerous, and increasingly more aggressive. It's always a nice day when you can save a planet.

Here's some images from the game:

Continue reading Make contact with First Contact

Make contact with First Contact originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Make contact with First Contact originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon: We’re Getting 4G LTE Too! Can Haz ur iPhonez?

You’ve told us and told us you want the iPhone on Verizon. There’s two reasons that hasn’t happened already. AT&T has exclusive rights in the US (Verizon, stupidly, turned down the iPhone initially), and the iPhone is a GSM device while Verizon runs a CDMA network (think Mac vs. PC). And, hey, Sprint can’t even get simultaneous voice and data going on the Pre with CDMA/EVDO, okay?

However, it seems like Verizon is going to the same LTE standard as AT&T for 4G, and hopes to do Ma Bell one better by bringing it to market by the end of THIS YEAR. (AT&T will be testing this year, rolling out in 2011, and the EU has delayed until 2012!) Gizmodo says it’s already running at 60Mbps, so…

With compatibility hurdles clearing in the future, will exclusivity fall next? Could we see an iPhone on Verizon in 2010 or 2011?

(TUAW has a great write up on that possibility, thanks Brian for the pointer!)

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

Verizon: We’re Getting 4G LTE Too! Can Haz ur iPhonez?