iPhone apps for Oscars lovers

Are you a big fan of the Oscars? The 81st annual Academy Awards will take place on Sunday. As an iPhone user, there are cool apps for you to enjoy the award's show, trailers, news, history, outfits, wallpapers, games and so on. Here are the apps: iSlumDog Millionaire: The best-picture nominee Slumdog ...

Summizer: Twitter search for iPhone users

Are you using Twitter frequently? Great. Try this app. Summizer, the app's name, will help you tracking the most popular micro blogging service, following friends and trends you care about. Just in case you missed about this service, it's taken from Twitter's site: Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers ...

iPhone Buzz Week in Review - Week 7 2009

If you have a bunch of favorite social networking accounts and you want to access them easily on your iPhone, this new app called Xumii will help you do that. Seems live television could be making its way to the iPhone. PacketVideo (PV) announced its mobile video application for the Apple's  ...

TV.com gives Trekkers a streaming treat for iPhone: full episodes on demand

Filed under: Video, iPhone, App Store

Just as Hulu has more-or-less reluctantly barred boxee from streaming NBC video content to anything other than a browser, here comes the new TV.com iPhone app. It offers full episodes of such classics as Dream On, Night Gallery and Star Trek, and clips from current shows on multiple networks. Compare and contrast with the original NBC mobile site and you'll see that mobile streaming has come a long way, baby.

Sure, the Slingplayer app for the iPhone may be just around the corner, and rumors of a Hulu app have been floated. Does that give you Kirk and Spock during your morning commute? No, I didn't think so.

CBS Interactive's TV.com app is a free download from the App Store, and works either over WiFi or 3G. I have a hunch it's not going to be available outside of the US store, so if you're able to check that out please let us know.

[via Techmeme]

TV.com gives Trekkers a streaming treat for iPhone: full episodes on demand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TV.com gives Trekkers a streaming treat for iPhone: full episodes on demand originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Removes Old Non-Customer Reviews from App Store

When Apple first opened the App Store back in July 2008, their review system allowed anyone to enter a comment or review on any application. No purchase was required at that time. As a result, many critical "reviews" came from those who had never b...

CBS releases TV.com iPhone app

A new app from CBS offers streaming video clips and TV episodes for iPhone users.

Xumii’s iPhone App Allows you to Connect with Friends on Multiple IM and Social Networks

Review: Stanza for iPhone

This electronic book and RSS feed reader is a first-rate and versatile app. But proclamations that it can turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a mini-Kindle are a little premature.

A fistful of apps: WideNoise, Labyrinth 3D, Penalized, Pure Sleep, Army Knife

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Instead of rounding up 16 apps in one review, I'll just tackle five. Links from the title of the app takes you directly into iTunes and the App Store.

WideNoise measures the noise in an area (using the mic on an iPhone, of course) and registers that online with your location. WideTag will show you regions of loud and quiet on a global, interactive map. My area shows "feather" because I took a recording in an empty house. The app looks like a prop from Fallout, with distressed metal and an analog meter, and I found the readings to be comparable to Decibel, which I've reviewed before. This might be good for finding quiet places in urban areas, provided people take the time to use it. I'm not sure $1.99 will have this flying off the virtual shelves, either.

Wooden Labyrinth 3D is exactly that, the classic game of a metal marble in a wooden, moving maze. We've seen several iterations of these on the store, but I think this version nails it. The physics are superb, the 3D is flawless, and the soundtrack is relaxing and pleasant. Plus, unlike real-world versions, you don't have to keep dozens of wooden mazes around -- there are several themes in the game which lead to several puzzles in each theme. In short, you're looking at a wide range of gameplay in this one app. My only complaint is one of organization: I would have preferred groupings based on difficulty, or some way to know how hard a level is before launching it. Is it worth $2.99? Considering the polish and replayability, I'd say yes. True, there are freebies out there, but none match the elegance of this app (and some which cost more aren't as good).

Penalized is billed as an "adult" party game, but it's a bit less provocative than you might think. There's no explicit adult content, this is merely hinted at. The game is a series of challenges, like "Impersonate Ray Charles" and if the player can't perform the challenge, they must be penalized somehow. The adult part is in the penalty, so removing a piece of clothing is an option. So is chopping a cord of wood, you know, adult stuff. Penalized does include a lot of challenge cards in 6 categories, but the $1.99 may seem a bit much. Especially if you carry around a deck of challenge cards in your pocket already. This is also something you could cook up with TileStack, I think.

Keep reading for Pure Sleep and Army Knife, two apps I use on a daily basis.

Continue reading A fistful of apps: WideNoise, Labyrinth 3D, Penalized, Pure Sleep, Army Knife

A fistful of apps: WideNoise, Labyrinth 3D, Penalized, Pure Sleep, Army Knife originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A fistful of apps: WideNoise, Labyrinth 3D, Penalized, Pure Sleep, Army Knife originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Voice dial on us: TUAW Vocalia giveaway

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store

In product shootouts between the iPhone and other smartphones, the iPhone usually gets dinged for not having voice dialing built in (although you can get around that with services like Jott). Vocalia, from Creaceed, is a voice-recognition dialing app that has been around for about six months.

Vocalia (click opens iTunes) displays a HAL9000-like glowing "eye" after being launched. When the eye appears, speak the name of a contact you wish to call. Vocalia analyzes your speech, then displays the closest matches to what you said. If there's more than one contact listed, you then speak the number next to the correct one. Are there multiple phone numbers for a contact? Just say "home", "mobile", "work" or whatever to dial.

Creaceed and TUAW would like to give away seven free promo codes for Vocalia.What do you need to do to enter? Just leave a comment on who you'd like to dial using Vocalia. Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your creative answers!

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. (Sorry, we know our international readers want to participate, but promo codes don't transfer outside the US.)
  
• To enter leave a comment telling us what person you'd like to call using Vocalia.
  
• The comment must be left before February 28, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Seven winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: Promo code for free copy of Vocalia for iPhone (US$3.99)
  
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Voice dial on us: TUAW Vocalia giveaway originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Voice dial on us: TUAW Vocalia giveaway originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iTunes Gift Certificates Not Accepted at Canadian App Store

You can’t use an iTunes gift certificate to buy applications on the Canadian App Store. I’ve experienced this myself, but never really looked into it before now. But it’s true. There’s even a thread about it on Apple’s Discussion Board.

Highlights include the difference in iTunes App Store Terms of Service between the US:

“10. PAYMENT METHODS. The Service accepts credit cards, payment through your PayPal account, and iTunes Cards, iTunes Store Gift Certificates, and Allowance Account balances as forms of payment.”

And Canada:

“10. PAYMENT METHODS. The Service accepts credit cards as the form of payment.”

Further down, we get what’s purported to be a response from Apple on the issue, which includes:

Due to tax laws and commerce restrictions for software in Canada, customers residing in Canada may only purchase games and applications using a credit card.

So, not only do we get hosed on data rates, don’t have access to US TV networks on iTunes (nor Hulu, etc.), not only do we have to pay more to “upgrade” music to iTunes Plus, but if by some miracle some kindly soul gives us an iTunes Gift Certificate, we can’t even use it on apps? Second class North Americans much?

(Yeah, okay, fine: #firstworldproblem)

Anyone have any deeper insight into these tax and commerce laws/restrictions of which they spake?

(Thanks to @deabush for pointing the ToS out to us as well!)

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

iTunes Gift Certificates Not Accepted at Canadian App Store

Review: Apples2Oranges from iPhone

Apples2Oranges solves two pressing problems: price comparisons, and how much of an ingredient is needed in a recipe. Aside from a few quirks, the app works very well and very fast.

Analysis: Looking for a pattern in Apple’s App Store rejections

Apple has given many reasons for rejecting apps from the App Store, but the process is still murky. Is that a problem?

Ten iPhone apps that didn’t make the App Store

PC World rounds up 10 notable iPhone apps that failed to pass muster in Apple’s App Store review process.

Practicality of Multi-Touch and an Early PowerBook Multi-Touch Keyboard Design

Here at MacRumors, we have had a fascination about the possibility of Apple introducing more advanced Multi-Touch technology into their future Macs and keyboards. This conversation, however, always returns to the question of the practicality and use...

Apple Prepping OS X 10.5.7 Update

Apple yesterday seeded Mac OS X 10.5.7, the next maintenance release for Leopard, to developers. Apple is requesting that developers focus their testing on over twenty areas of the new seed, which is termed Build 9J22.

Developers fami...

Cracky Birthday to You! CrackBerry.Com Turns Two!

It’s with the utmost respect and joy that we get to wish our sibling site, and public frenemies number one over at CrackBerry.com, a wonderful, wacky, cracky second birthday. From 7000 word reviews, to net-breaking first looks at the latest/greatest devices, to forums so big they now scare small nations, CrackBerry Kevin and his team have put together something special — a real community.

Congrats everyone. For today and today only, in honor of your turning two, we’ll say it loud — we’re Cracky and Proud!

And since Kevin and CrackBerry.com don’t know from understated, you gotta know they have more birthday contests running than you could shake a Storm at. Go forth and check them out, win some prizes, and party hardy.

Happy birthday!

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

Cracky Birthday to You! CrackBerry.Com Turns Two!

What if Apple Killed Paid Apps for Unlocked/Developer iPhones? Google Android Did!

Apple decides which apps get approved for the iPhone/iPod touch App Store, provides little to no transparency on the process, prevents certain things like turn-by-turn GPS outright in the SDK agreement, and — though they’ve yet to use them — maintains black lists for GPS and malware that could remove any LocationServices or entire applications from iPhones everywhere. For this, and more, Apple has earned quite a bit of criticism — and rightly so in many cases.

What if Apple went further, however. They sell officially unlocked iPhones in several regions, like Hong Kong. They also have a program that grants developers tethering abilities for testing. What if, one day, people with unlocked or developer iPhones woke up to find the Paid section of the App Store gone. What would the community reaction be? What should it be?

Google, whose “don’t be evil” motto has been downgraded by management in recent years, is lauded for the openness of their Android Market (even though they’re known to have a kill switch of their ownl — to do otherwise would be irresponsible), yet our friends over at Android Central woke to find themselves in just such a situation this week. Paid apps. Gone.

We’re told it’s because of piracy concerns, that Google thinks developer units of the G1 make it easier for people to steal paid apps. Jeffdc5 on Twitter let us know developer G1 handsets could store apps on the SD memory card in addition to the on-device memory of the regular units, which could make them more pirate-able. However, we’ve seen that the iPhone — with no external memory — can have apps pirated as well, so is that readon enough? It smacks of the same “treat your customers as thieves” thinking that created DRM music, Microsoft Genuine Advantage, Sony rootkits, and Adobe invading our boot sectors…

Apple has already removed DRM from iTunes music, and has now removed product keys from boxed versions of iLife 09 and iWork 09 as well. It seems to be working out none too badly for them.

Openness is definitely A Good Thing. Maybe trust in your user base should be as well?

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

What if Apple Killed Paid Apps for Unlocked/Developer iPhones? Google Android Did!

Yet Another MobileMe Phishing Scam

Stealing credit card information is big business so perhaps it should come as no surprise that we’re seeing so many phishing attacks targeted at even niche services like MobileMe. We’ve reported on a bunch of them already, and this latest one is just more of the same.

If you get an email warning you about the status of your account, asking you to verify billing info, or basically asking you anything at all, NEVER click on the link. Always launch your web browser and type in the main URL by hand (i.e. don’t click on the email’s “Login” button, go to Firefox or Safari and type in “http://www.me.com/”). (And yes, DNS can be cache poisoned and localhosts can be over-written, but depending how valuable a target you are and how much time you want to invest in proofing yourself, manually entering URLs is a good compromise between convenience and security.

Apple Insider has all the details for those who want them. Surf safe!

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

Yet Another MobileMe Phishing Scam

iTunes Short Term Pass Debuts with Depeche Mode

Apple has teamed up with EMI, which was the first record label to join the DRM-free iTunes Plus program when it was announced, to provide the new “iTunes Pass” system. Says EMI (via MacRumors):

The first iTunes Pass debuts today in conjunction with Depeche Mode’s forthcoming 12th studio album, Sounds of the Universe, to be released on April 21 in the US. Fans who sign up starting today get the alternative/dance pioneers’ new single, Wrong, as well as the Black Light Odyssey Dub Remix of the new track Oh Well. They will also receive the new album on its street date plus great music and video exclusives before and after the album’s release over the next fifteen weeks. The Depeche Mode iTunes Pass can be purchased starting today for $18.99.

Still all iTunes Plus format, and they promise you’ll get your fair market value out of the service, though you have to get all you fun in before the 90-day deadline expires.

Personally, I like iTunes’ ability to let me pick and choose singles, and almost never buy complete albums (the recording industry nightmare, of course), so this holds very little appeal to me. Am I missing out on something? Anyone here going to give it a try?

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

iTunes Short Term Pass Debuts with Depeche Mode