Review: Distant Shore for iPhone

Distant Shore is a sort of Web 2.0 version of having a pen pal. The application presents an enjoyable at-your-own-pace experience that is completely different from most any other offering in the App Store.

ZumoDrive on the iPhone, pricing updates and open beta

Starting today, "Supersize Me" iPhone App for ZumoDrive is available - for the grand price of $0 for a limited time.  Hurry up and grab it now, or else you'll have to shell out $4.99 later on when the company starts charging for it. ZumoDrive also dropped the price of the ...

Apple Planning Special Event March 24th?

Just a rumor for now, according to Engadget, and it will likely be a “Spotlight Turns to Desktops” with architectural bumps for the Mac Mini, iMac, and/or Mac Pro to bring them in line with the Nvidia chipsets and latest gen Intel procs the laptops received last fall, and maybe a new 30″ LED display, but March 2008 did see the iPhone SDK Roadmap event, so we’re not above hoping there may be some iPhone news on our horizon.

When Apple announced they’d no longer be attending Macworld, they also said they would be calling their own news events on their own schedule, so likewise the March 24 data has to be seen as fluid and depending on the final readiness of the product(s) and service(s) to be announced. Since Apple rarely sends out invitations until less then a week before the drop date anyway, all we can do is wait… and maybe drool…

Won’t be Steve Jobs, of course, as he’ll still be on leave, but Phil Schiller did the last keynote, and also the last new iMac form-factor reveal (while Jobs was on his previous leave) so there’s some history to suggest he may be the main man on stage again.

Meanwhile, what do you expect to see at a March Apple Special Event, and what do you really want to see?

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

Apple Planning Special Event March 24th?

AT&T Planning to Launch “Phone Trade-In” Program in June; In Time for the New iPhone?

Around SPE for 1 March, 2009

In a sense, it was a calm after the Mobile World Congress storm this week, but we got together and recorded a massive hour-and-a-half-long Smartphone Experts Roundtable Podcast to discuss all the news from Windows Mobile 6.5 to the Ovi app Store to Apple’s “absent presence” at the show.

If you didn’t realize, SPE has four podcasts for your listening pleasure: the CrackBerry.com Podcast, the Phone Different Podcast (with the occasional iPhone LIVE! show), the PalmCast on both TreoCentral and PreCentral.net, and finally the WMExperts Podcast. The bold and daring may even want to try the (still in Beta, since it’s based on the somewhat unreliable Yahoo Pipes feature) Smartphone Experts Combined Podcast Feed, which puts all four podcasts into a single feed — also available in iTunes, if that’s how you roll.

Now for the roundup of the week’s news!

Android Central

On the Android side of things, we have a lively discussion going on about whether or not Android’s open source attitude is actually resulting in open results, given that Paid apps aren’t showing up on Unlocked G1s, that outlook isn’t as rosy as we’d like — even Symbian is talking trash on the subject! Meanwhile we’re watching to see if and when Android will show up on AT&T. We’re also eyeing two potential new handsets from Yuhua and General Mobile

CrackBerry.com

CrackBerry’s Birthday festivities overshadowed the news this week and if you hurry you might be able to get in on some contests. Most contest draws end tonight (Sunday night) at Midnight PST. You can click here for the full list of CrackBerry contests (including a new BlackBerry Curve 8900 custom painted by ColorWare!). As for actual BlackBerry news, there is excitement over the CDMA version of the Bold thanks to new details emerging and Mac + BlackBerry users have a new media syncing with doubleTwist!

Nokia Experts

The economic situation is impacting just about everyone Nokia is trying out some unique programs to try to reduce costs. OPK also made a single comment this week that has many jumping to the conclusion that Nokia will be entering the laptop business, but I think it is too early to really stated that. Unfortunately, Nokia had a difficult week with the very confusing 5800 XpressMusic launch here in the U.S. and needs to get their act together if they really want to increase sales here. Our Nokia Experts Launch Contest is now over and we’ll be picking the winners soon.

PreCentral.net

While we’re doing our level best not to be too jealous of the Celebrities getting the Palm Pre, the biggest news of the week has come in terms of webOS development. There were quite a few details to be gleaned from the developer web presentation, leaving us both hot and cold on the widget platform. Yes, we’re still trying to pin down a Pre release date, right now the feeling on the web is that later is more likely than sooner.

The iPhone Blog

Previously, on TiPb: Apple gave MobileMe a facelift just in time for the new Safari 4 beta. Meanwhile, the App Store cleaned out non-customer reviews, banished Emoji-enablers, and just said “No!” to Howard Stern and the Sirius/XM radio iPhone app.

Microsoft talked iPhone. AT&T talked iPhone (and slapped a customer with a $28K bill!). And Apple? They didn’t say much at their annual shareholders meeting. But they did sing Happy Birthday to Steve Jobs on his 54th!

TreoCentral

At TreoCentral we heard that for the 2nd time in 2009, Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg raised his rating on PALM, this time bumping it us to a Buy.  There was an interesting Smartphone Experts Roundtable Podcast in which the editors discussed Mobile World Congress 2009.  Plus, we heard that the CDMA Treo Pro has been officially released on Bell Canada, while Sprint customers here in the states are still waiting for the smartphone. A post in the forums does give a bit of hope for a 3/15 release though.

WMExperts

So much for a post-Mobile World Congress hangover. WMExperts learned with great relief that the HTC Touch Pro 2 is destined for North America. And speaking of HTC, we saw updates to the orginial Touch Pro as well as the Touch Diamond. Both also are scheduled for release in Europe through T-Mobile.

The Sprint Treo Pro is on pre-sale at Best Buy.The Celio REDFLY finally is playing nice with Opera 9.5. Speaking of browsers, Mozilla’s “Fennec” browser will sync tabs from your desktop and will be known simply as “Firefox,” and we got in deep with the Iris browser.

And, finally, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laid out plans for the company at his Strategic Update Meeting, where he talked about Windows Mobile, and again mentioned that WM7 will come out in 2010.

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

Around SPE for 1 March, 2009

AT&T to Launch Trade-In Program This June?

BGR has just reported that AT&T may be working on a handset exchange program to be unveiled this upcoming June. Do you think this may have something to do with a new iPhone being released? Yeah, TiPb thinks so as well.

So, say you bought the iPhone 3G sometime in the last year and a new one comes out this June or July, technically you should not be eligible for the subsidy price. What does AT&T do about this? They introduce their new “Phone Trade-In” program of course. This may be one way AT&T will try to calm the angry hordes of people who feel they are owed the lower price. Keep in mind this is not without strings attached.

• The phone being traded in can’t be more than two years old and must be in fair shape
• The new phone will not have any subsidies applied to it, so basically whatever your trade-in covers will be your “savings”
• Trade-ins will be valued from $50 to $200

This is very nice of AT&T if this does indeed turn out to be true. While I would not go this route, it may be a valuable option for people looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone this summer.

(Personally, I say unlock your current iPhone and sell it on eBay. You should receive more $$$ than AT&T is willing to give you…)

[Via BGR]

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

AT&T to Launch Trade-In Program This June?

Apps for Less: BeeJiveIM, Resco Bubbles, i Fishing, Whack It: For Kids

Today we have a few good apps worth grabbing at discounted prices.

First up is an application everyone should be aware of by now, BeeJiveIM. From Monday, March 2 until Sunday, March 8th you can purchase BeeJiveIM in the app store for the low price of $9.99, which is down from $15.99. Not a shabby deal, grab this one before the sale ends! You won’t regret it.

Next we have a app we featured in a Quick App a while back, Resco Bubbles. You can now get Resco Bubbles for only $.99. This game is pretty addicting, well worth a buck!

This next app is in direct competition with another app from the previous Apps for Less. i Fishing is now on sale until March 4th. You can catch yourself this fine fishing app for only $.99! That’s $2 off the regular price.

Last but not least, we have one for the kids today. Whack It: For Kids is now 50% off and is available for the low price of $.99. This sale will run for only 3 weeks so be sure to get in on the sale. Your kids will appreciate it.

As always, if your application is going on sale or you’ve just dropped your price, be sure to let us know and we may include it in the next Apps for Less!

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

Apps for Less: BeeJiveIM, Resco Bubbles, i Fishing, Whack It: For Kids

App Store News: Apple Clamping down on Emoji iPhone Apps; Purges Reviews Submitted by Non-Customers

Quick App: Aqua Moto Racing for iPhone

Over the past two weeks, the App Store has seen its fair share of good quality games creating some waves among gamers, Aqua Moto Racing (iTunes link) being one of these games.

Aqua Moto Racing offers racing with an unprecedented sense of speed on the platform. With state of the art handling and graphics this game truly puts your Jet Ski riding skills to the ultimate test. Race in the beautifully rendered American locations; Emerald Bay, Everglades and Long Beach Port. Start off with participating in a Championship for beginners. Perform stunts and keep a tight line around the buoys to power your boost. Collect medals in the Time Trial mode by beating set target times. Register a profile and compare your race results with friends all over the world. Race against Aqua Moto Racing Lite World Records through Ghost Play.

I know most of you are probably thinking we have more than enough less than stellar racing games available in the App Store. Hopefully Aqua Moto Racing is a good sign of things to come. Where most of the other racing games have failed, this gem of a game succeeds. With good graphics, great control, virtually no slow down, no crashing, etc… This game is a keeper.

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

Quick App: Aqua Moto Racing for iPhone

Tiger Woods game for iPhone

EA Mobile just introduced the first screens of its Tiger Woods 09 game for the iPhone via Facebook, according to Pocket Gamer. So far, there are no solid details on this golfing game. These are pegged as pre-release shots, suggesting improvements will likely be made before we actually see the finished ...

Rinspeed iPhone Controller Car

The remote control car loving child in all of us will be jumping for joy with Rinspeed to unveil and iPhone controlled car the iChange, next week. Removing the need for keys, total control of the car can be managed through your iPhone including starting the car, changing any setting ...