SoundClip, a passive iPhone amplifier

Ten One Design offers SoundClip to boost your iPhone 3G's sound. The SoundClip, a passive sound enchancer, directs sound from iPhone toward you to increase the clarity and volume for movies and music. According to the manufacturer, it also makes games easier to play without blocking your iPhone's speaker. SoundClip amplifies ...

TubeJunkies: Youtube RSS reader for the iPhone

Are you addicted to YouTube? Definetly you need this app. TubeJunkies is an app made just for YouTube addicts. You can subscribe to video channels and never miss any new videos uploaded. Its features include: Subscribe to video channels based on search texts, youtube users, or video tags. Watch subscribed videos from within ...

An early comparison: iPhone 3G vs HTC Magic

Yeah, you might be asking: iPhone 3G or HTC Magic? Chris Davies of SlashGear has wrote an early comparison of these devices. Here is the pointers: Touchscreens Both have capacitive touchscreens The former 3.5-inches and the latter 3.2-inches Both running at 480 x 320. Size The iPhone 3G (4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 inches) a ...

SoundClip, a passive iPhone amplifier

Ten One Design offers SoundClip to boost your iPhone 3G's sound. The SoundClip, a passive sound enchancer, directs sound from iPhone toward you to increase the clarity and volume for movies and music. According to the manufacturer, it also makes games easier to play without blocking your iPhone's speaker. SoundClip amplifies ...

TubeJunkies: Youtube RSS reader for the iPhone

Are you addicted to YouTube? Definetly you need this app. TubeJunkies is an app made just for YouTube addicts. You can subscribe to video channels and never miss any new videos uploaded. Its features include: Subscribe to video channels based on search texts, youtube users, or video tags. Watch subscribed videos from within ...

An early comparison: iPhone 3G vs HTC Magic

Yeah, you might be asking: iPhone 3G or HTC Magic? Chris Davies of SlashGear has wrote an early comparison of these devices. Here is the pointers: Touchscreens Both have capacitive touchscreens The former 3.5-inches and the latter 3.2-inches Both running at 480 x 320. Size The iPhone 3G (4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 inches) a ...

Review: Groups: Drag & Drop Contacts Management for iPhone

While the current version of Groups lacks some essential features, it’s still a great tool for anyone serious about managing their contacts.

Video of ‘Leaked’ Next-Gen Mac Mini?

The original forum poster has now offered up a video of the purported next-generation Mac mini.



The video is labeled "Mac Mini 2009 Edition". We have little other information as to its legitimacy and the story sounds...

Oscar-savvy iPhone users let their lights shine

Users of the Sonic Lighter iPhone app can vote for their favorite Best Picture nominee in advance of Sunday’s Academy Awards. And that’s just one of several Oscar-themed offerings at the App Store.

Presidents of the USA release iPhone app with their music in it

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

Wired has a story up about an interesting tactic The Presidents of the United States have put into action (no, not the Commanders in Chief, the pop punk trio from the '90s). While they already do have their music in the iTunes Music Store, one of the band's members has joined a company that makes iPhone software, and they're also putting all of their tunes into the App Store as well. The app sells for three bucks and allows you to listen to tracks from the four albums of material that the band owns themselves -- though only through a stream, which, according to the reviews, can sound pretty bad at times.

So interesting idea, pretty poor implementation. Still, this might be a good way for even smaller bands to get their music out there and into people's hands -- the only up-front cost on the App Store is the $100 registration fee, and Apple's fine with whatever you put out there. As Wired notes, they get paid their 30% whether you're selling your tunes via an app or through iTunes. Plus, with a dedicated app, you can add in news, throw in interactive extras, and put whatever else you can think of in there.

I doubt this is the last time we'll hear about an artist (or even a corporation) selling an iPhone app with content built-in to promote themselves. The only issue is that anyone releasing "promoware" like this should be required (either by Apple or just by consumers) to offer some actual functionality along with the promotion.

Presidents of the USA release iPhone app with their music in it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Presidents of the USA release iPhone app with their music in it originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

First Look: Shooter

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

I happened to try iSniper Lite [iTunes link] the same week I was offered a chance to preview Shooter [iTunes link]. If you've played iSniper, you get a sense of what the basic gameplay in Shooter is like: use the accelerometer to move a sniper's scope around a board and shoot bad guys. But Shooter (from Paramount) improves upon the basic iSniper game in several important ways... and yes, it's based on the movie of the same name starring Mark Wahlberg. The game just hit the store and is currently being sold for $.99.

Shooter adds a "hold your breath" mode that is designed to slow the moving view down a bit. Like the "focus" mode from the Matrix videogames, you can only hold your breath for so long. While in this mode the view did slow down, but I found it hard to move the sight as well. It's as if your actions are muted instead of throttled, forcing you to move the iPhone really far in one direction to move the view. Update: Peter notes in the comments that you're supposed to use your finger to move the sight when in this mode. Still, that's a bit tricky while holding the iPhone and holding a breath button and needing to push the fire button...

One other complaint: reloading. iSniper features autoloading, which makes it easier to pick up and play and gets the gameplay moving a lot faster. I realize the designers likely chose to use manual loading because it does add to the challenge, but I wish there was an option to turn on autoloading. Still, that's a minor quibble. This is a game you'll be playing for some time. Read on for an explanation why, or check out the gallery.

Continue reading First Look: Shooter

First Look: Shooter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Shooter originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rogers 4G LTE Will They/Won’t They Sega Continues!

So yesterday we linked to Zach Epstein’s story over at BGR, the one about an internal Rogers briefing call that claimed Vancouver would be enjoying some 4G LTE at 50Mbps+ just in time for the Winter Olympics.

Rogers contacted us almost immediately to say the story was inaccurate and the call never happened, and we contacted Zach who was gracious enough to get back to us, reaffirming the story. Now the BGR has kicked it up another notch, posting audio from the supposed call online.

Real? Fake? A “leak it so we sound innovative but deny it so if it doesn’t launch we had coverage” tactic? Take a listen to the recording and tell us what you think…

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

Rogers 4G LTE Will They/Won’t They Sega Continues!

Review: Next Read for iPhone

This app for tracking which books you want to read is a bibliophile’s dream. Unfortunately, its usefulness is weighed down by a cumbersome and counterintuitive ranking system.

Quick App: South Park Mobile for iPhone Jailbreak

You really have to love Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park:

“We’re always in favor of people downloading. It’s how a lot of people see the show. And it’s never hurt us. We’ve done nothing but be successful with the show. How could you ever get mad about somebody who wants to see your stuff?”

Well Apple drops the ball yet again with the official South Park app in the App store… and yet again a 3rd party picks up the slack. South Park Mobile is available via Cydia and if you are not jailbroken, check out www.southparkmobile.net on your iPhone. What this app allows you to do is stream full episodes of South Park for your viewing pleasure right on your iPhone. Every single episode, from every single season is available for you to stream. Keep in mind this is not something official from Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker but it’s the best we currently have available to us.

*You must be on firmware 2.2+ in order for this Jailbreak App to work.

[Thanks to Jaun for the tip!]

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

Quick App: South Park Mobile for iPhone Jailbreak

Telenor to become second Scandinavian iPhone provider

Scandinavian mobile operator Telenor will become the second provider to offer iPhone service in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in the next few months.

‘AppStore Secrets’ : Price Drops, Usage and Ad-Supported Models

Greg Yardley, co-founder and CEO of mobile analytics firm Pinch Media, recently gave a presentation at the New York iPhone Developers Meetup highlighting data gathered from over 30 million App Store downloads of applications utilizing Pinch Media's a...

Review: Expando for iPhone

Expando is a trippy time-waster featuring smiley faces.

Forum Mega-Review: iPhone To-Do App Showdown

Over the last few weeks, one of our all-star forum reviewers, msbaylor, has been putting a massive amount of iPhone To-Do apps through their paces: Things, Appigo’s ToDo, Toodledo, Done, Zenbe Lists, Ultimate ToDos, and Firetask. Well now he’s to-done, and you can check out his colossal review roundup on our forums (along with screenshots and videos aplenty!)

On behalf of everyone seeking that holy grail of To-Do nirvana, we can’t thank Matt enough for going to all this trouble. Here’s what he wanted, but read it quick so you can get to the good stuff!

• Sync (not at additional cost)
• Sleek/non-confusing interface
• sub-tasks
• due-date
• priority

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

Forum Mega-Review: iPhone To-Do App Showdown

Windows Mobile 6.5 prototype phone stolen in Barcelona

At Mobile World Congress, a Telstra executive lost his top-secret handset loaded with Microsoft's latest mobile operating system.

Review: CompareMe for iPhone

CompareMe is a simple-to-use app that lets you compare the prices for differently priced and sized items to make sure you’re getting the best buy at the store.