Apple approved Tweetie 1.3 despite naughty words

Apple has finally approved a Twitter iPhone app despite sometimes presents naughty words, CNET reports. The company intially rejected Tweetie 1.3 due to an offensive word appeared in Twitter's Trends data. In an e-mail earlier Tuesday, app developer Loren Brichter said Apple quoted this part of the company's guidelines as a ...

NatsuLion for iPhone Review

From developer Takuma Mori comes a lightweight, fast and simple twitter client called NatsuLion. I have had NatsuLion on my iPhone on and off since I got it but depending on the situation, I like to fire it up. For example, if I want to do a quick post or ...

Fiddle-dee-dee Potatoes

Free for St. Patrick's Day, Byki will be offering an iPhone App that teaches the users Irish. "Learn over 1000 words and phrases with an easy, three step process." After the free day the app will cost $7.99 for the first 30 days and then $9.99 forever. The app is loaded ...

iPhone goes Corporate

SAP and Sybase are teaming up to make it easier for business users to access SAP's software through your iPhone. Similar applications are already available for BlackBerry through Research in Motion. The goal of all these developments as stated by Bill McDermott president of Global Field Operations for SAP, is to ...

iPhone OS 3.0 launch: live blog on March 17th

Apple have announced a special event on March 17th, where the company will launch the iPhone OS 3.0 Software.  As you might expect we'll be live blogging the whole event, kicking off at 10AM EST on the 17th at http://live.slashgear.com/ As well as the new iPhone OS, Apple are also promising ...

Facebook Connect for iPhone will Make iPhone Apps More Social

TUAW @SXSW: The iPhone Gaming Panel

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

Panels at SXSW range from touchy-feely to nuts-and-bolts. This panel was the latter. The panelists came armed with data and didn't pull punches when it came to criticism of the store or other apps.The panelists: Stephanie Morgan from ngmoco, Danielle Cassley from Aurora Feint, Raven Zachary (moderator) and Brian Greenstone from Pangea Software.

Raven Zachary is the guy responsible for the Obama campaign app, and he started off with some stats from Pinch Media around how many devices are out there: roughly 20-30 million. We don't know exact iPod touch numbers because Apple doesn't publish those, but there was a huge jump in iPod touch browser detection after the holidays.

Thus, factoring in iPhone numbers and an estimate of iPod touches, we get upwards of 20 million devices. Another interesting point: 70% of mobile browsing is done via iPhone or touch. That's a staggering amount, especially in comparison to other platforms, with Java only accounting for 8%, Windows Mobile about the same, and it goes south from there. Plus, games account for most App Store downloads, with puzzle games being the most downloaded genre.

Next up was Stephanie Morgan from ngmoco, who discussed some things we all know: the iPhone is unlike any gaming platform or handheld. She explained a sort of tiered approach to ngmoco's efforts: starting with free apps to build awareness, moving up to building a platform for good games, and ultimately expanding into the paid apps -- where the money is, of course. Stephanie did put some stats on the board, however.

For one, we found out that iPhone games don't have to be designed for McNugget-sized attention spans. According to ngmoco, the average time spent playing Rolando is over 20 minutes each time it is played. Of course, there are lots of levels in Rolando. By comparison, MazeFinger average play time was around 6 minutes.

To find out about Aurora Feint's asynchronous gameplay efforts and Pangea sales numbers, keep reading.

Continue reading TUAW @SXSW: The iPhone Gaming Panel

TUAW @SXSW: The iPhone Gaming Panel originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW @SXSW: The iPhone Gaming Panel originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updated Mac Pro Benchmarks and Video of Internals

Compiled by Grimace
Since more of the new Mac Pros have been delivered, it seems some of the early benchmarks underestimated the 2.26GHz Mac Pro's performance in single threaded tasks. The latest numbers show that the new 2.26GHz 8-Co...

Comic Books on the iPhone: ‘Super Kaiju Hero Force’

Filed under: Humor, Developer, iPhone, iPod touch

If you're reading TUAW you most-likely are a fan of all-things Apple including the Mac and the iPhone. You may also be a fan of comic books. If so, the folks at Crispy Comics have a deal for you.

Now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch directly from the iTunes store, Crispy Comics is producing a comic book series specifically for those devices. And did I mention the comic is absolutely free.

Here's the scoop directly from Crispy Comics:

"Super Kaiju Hero Force" is the comedic story of 3 young fanboys who win a trip to Japan and end up trapped inside the monster costumes used on the hit live-action superhero show "Colossal Man." This first 11-chapter series follows Garganturo, Democules, and Mungor in the exciting origin to the series.

The series, which will be released on a bi-weekly basis and runs between 20 and 25 pages, will tell a continuing story culminating with a chilling cliffhanger. Then, once the original series runs its course, the Crispy Comics will release a "Special" edition with features such as creator commentary and iPhone wallpapers.

The "Special" edition will come with a minimal cost which is yet to be determined. The company also plans to release the "Special" edition on other platforms such as Android in the Summer of 2009. Check it out and if you do, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

Comic Books on the iPhone: 'Super Kaiju Hero Force' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Comic Books on the iPhone: 'Super Kaiju Hero Force' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple could Introduce “Premium” section on the App Store?

TiPb Giveaway: Twitterkitteh for iPhone

We can’t tell if this is shrewd marketing or wicked satire at the state of the App Store and Twitter. We suspect it’s equal parts both, finished with a good shot of lulz. Says developer James Thomson:

Twitkitteh is, quite simply, the first Twitter application written specifically for cats.

For many years, cats have been unfairly excluded from this social networking phenomenon, but we at TLA Systems believe it is finally time to change that.

Designed from the ground up for the iPhone, and featuring a simple multi-paw interface, Twitkitteh allows your cat to post insightful comments to Twitter on a wide variety of subjects - all without the tiresome inconvenience of learning to type first.

Your cat deserves a voice on the Internet, and Twitkitteh is that voice.

Welcome to Cat 2.0.

Brilliant, and what’s even more brilliant is he’s giving away two (2) copies to our faithful TiPb readers. Just drop a Twitterkitteh-inspired comment (and be sure to include a real email address, we won’t make it public but we will use it to notify you if you win!). Get to it!

(Note: Unfortunately, Promo Codes only work in the US App Store, so if you don’t have access, you won’t be able to claim a prize.)

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

TiPb Giveaway: Twitterkitteh for iPhone

Inconceivable! iSperm for the iPhone / iPod touch

Filed under: Gaming, Humor, Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

Every once in a while, an iPhone app shows up that we just have to review because of the name. Mobigem's iSperm (click opens iTunes) is one of those apps.

iSperm is an arcade game in which you, as a single sperm cell, battle other sperm and obstacles to reach your goal -- fertilizing an egg and creating a new life. There are three phases in the journey up the Fallopian tube:

1. In this phase, you shake your iPhone to make your cell move faster than the other sperm;
2. Here, you tilt the iPhone to avoid obstacles that are blocking your way to the egg;
3. Finally, you tap on the iPhone's screen to speed up and make it to the egg before the others.

The game has a 12+ rating for Mild Suggestive Theme and Sexual Content, and the developers went out of their way to make the game cute and fun rather than raunchy. After all, who could be upset about a sperm cell wearing a bow tie and carrying a rose for his date? If you get good at iSperm, you can get bragging rights by having a score in the worldwide Top 10.

You can pick up iSperm for just US$0.99. It's a hoot!

Inconceivable! iSperm for the iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Inconceivable! iSperm for the iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone needs a native Gmail application

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

The iPhone needs a native Gmail application. There, I've said it. Every time I bring this up with iPhone users, I get one of the following questions:

• What's wrong with the built-in Mail app?
• What's wrong with the Gmail iPhone-optimized web interface?
• How dare you criticize the iPhone!

Okay, that last one isn't a question, but you can tell that some people are thinking it.

Let's tackle the questions:

What's wrong with the built-in iPhone Mail app?

I have to admit that Mail on the iPhone is the best email client I've ever used on a mobile device. But that's really not saying much, since virtually ever app that I regularly use on the iPhone is better than the equivalent Windows Mobile or Blackberry versions I have used with previous devices. The main thing that I find to be missing in Mail on the iPhone is message threading. Gmail is the gold standard when it comes to keeping messages grouped by thread, and Mail.app on the Mac comes a close second, in my opinion. For me, this is a must-have feature, and it drives me crazy that it is missing from Mail on the iPhone.

One other frustration with the iPhone Mail client (admittedly one that native Gmail would not fix) is how many taps it takes to move between mail accounts. It sure would be nice for Apple to include an integrated Inbox that works the same way it does on Mail.app for the Mac.

Continue reading The iPhone needs a native Gmail application

The iPhone needs a native Gmail application originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The iPhone needs a native Gmail application originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Premium App Store Plus! iPhone 3.0 Rumors Recycled!

Our guess is that the buildup to this Tuesday’s iPhone OS 3.0 Preview will be filled with rumors, new and old. Speaking of old, Wired has just dusted off the Premium App Store (or App Store Plus) story from back in January. While that story focused on Premium Games, and Wired re-enforces that focus, they all suggest there could be a wider range of content:

This “velvet rope” section of Apple’s store could feature software programs that cost $20 or more, making it friendlier to publishers whose products are too complicated to be created in one developer’s spare time. That change would make the App Store more friendly to game publishers, as well as enterprise software companies such as SAP that would otherwise prefer to focus on the more business-user targeted BlackBerry phones. BlackBerry is expected to launch its own app store, called the BlackBerry App World, later this month.

I would pay $20+ for an app that was worth $20+, and if separating those apps off from the $0.99 fartsnjiggles crowd helps developers pay their bills while making what we hope are the Next Great Apps, more power to them.

The question then becomes, what’s worth $20+ to you in an iPhone App?

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

Premium App Store Plus! iPhone 3.0 Rumors Recycled!

Rolando’s Simon Oliver in the Daily Mail

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

The Daily Mail has reported the story of our friend Simon Oliver, creator of Rolando (whom we interviewed quite a while ago when the game originally came out). Apparently things have worked out very well for him -- the game has sold 700,000 copies so far, Oliver's set to be a millionaire, and he's now, as he says, the head of a game studio that already has a hit under its belt. Very impressive (too bad they still call him a geek).

It's stories like this that are pushing the little App Store bubble we've got going nowadays -- every investor with money to spare (not as many as usual, given the current economy) is happy to sink it into releases for the iPhone, and while there is plenty of money being made, not every developer ends up like Oliver (let's not forget he had a quality product in the first place).

But there is some good news here: without the App Store and the iPhone platform, this never would have happened. Say what you want about Apple's release policies or their initial "no SDK" choice, but with the iPhone, they've brought development and distribution down to anyone who can dream it.

Rolando's Simon Oliver in the Daily Mail originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rolando's Simon Oliver in the Daily Mail originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What iPhone Firmware are You Running?

With the iPhone OS 3.0 Preview coming this Tuesday, March 17, the question will inevitably become: when’s it shipping?!

However, Erica Sadun over at Ars Technica, in an article designed to help developers better target their firmware requirements, shows some interesting data on what firmware releases iPhone owners are actually using… and it isn’t always the latest.

iPhone users likely keep up to date more than almost any other smartphone platform on the planet simply because Apple and iTunes make it so drop dead simple to find out about, and install the OS updates. But even so, Sadun’s article shows not everyone is doing it:

The data, covering one week and provided by Headlight Software, showed no one on 1.x (thank Jobs for that!), less than 2% total on 2.0.x, less than 7% on 2.1.x, 26.61% on 2.2, and a whopping 65.49% on the current firmware, 2.2.1 released January 27.

So two-thirds on the latest/greatest firmware, just over a quarter on the previous release (yellowsn0w unlockers accounting for some of that, we suspect), and few stragglers back in the stone ages of 2.0.

As important as this information is for developers trying to figure out how to target their requirements, we’re also just plain curious. We figure TiPb readers are some of the smartest iPhone folks on the planet. So let us know, are you on the most recent iPhone OS 2.2.1 version, or are you deliberately staying on 2.2 for now? Anyone just not care about firmware and sticking with an older version that “just works” for you?

And how many would upgrade to 3.0 in a heartbeat the instant Apple dropped it?

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

What iPhone Firmware are You Running?

Forum Review: iProRecorder for iPhone

[Ed: iProRecorder is Currently on sale for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store - Rene]

iProRecorder Forum Review by cjvitek For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!

Recorder apps are a popular sub-group of apps, and each of them seems to offer a slight variation on the same overall theme. Depending on what you are looking for in a recording apps (ease of use, a large number of features, online synching, etc) different recording apps are going to be good or bad. iProRecorder is an app the focuses more on features that speed of use, but the features is has are quite nice.

When you first start the app, you are presented with the recording page. To record a memo, you hit the small red record button in the middle of the page. For people (like myself) who want to have an large, easy to hit button, the relative small size of this button may be difficult to get used to.

iProRecorder offers a large array of features when recording a memo - including timed recording, appending on to the end of a recording, different playback speeds, different recording qualities, volume boosting for low volume recordings, categorizing recordings, etc. In fact, there are really too many features to go into detail in this review - suffice to say there are lots of options to customize any recording you make.

Once you make a recording, you can classify it in a category, edit the title, add a photo to the description, and sending the recording via email. In addition, there is a wifi sync option to download recordings to your computer. One interesting thing that is available - you can hide specific memos from web sharing. This means you can select a specific memo, have someone else access it on their computer, and hide all your other memos so the person can’t download them. I couldn’t find any option to automatically “hide all” or “reveal all” so you need to go through memo by memo to access this feature.

The voice quality of the recorder is very nice. I like the option of choosing between different recording qualities. Bad quality for just a short quick memo, good quality for something I may want to post for my students to listen to. I also really like the timed recording option - you can set the timer to record for a specific length of time. I find this particularly useful for long recordings (like a lecture), because I will often forget to stop the recording once the lecture is over. You can also enable a quick 3 second countdown to recording so that you can start a memo and thant put the iPhone down (without getting a big “clunk” on the recording).

The app comes with a detailed guide that goes over each of the various settings, which is useful because some of them may not be that intuitive. I wish more apps came with instructions like this. One thing you can do from every screen in the app is access the recording button (the microphone) to start a new recording. This is especially nice, because I have found it is easy to “get lost” in the screens on many apps, something that this apps tries to avoid.

The features this recorder offers are very nice, and they allow you to adjust a wide range of settings. You can’t edit a recording once it is made (it would be nice to be able to cut out or crop a recording) but that might be asking too much. If you are looking for a full featured recording app with good sound quality, this app may fit the bill. On the other hand, if you just want something to be able to record a quick memo - this app may not be focused on ease or speed of use.

Pros:

• Godo quality,
• lots of features,
• wifi sync

Cons:

• Record button is a little small

Conclusion

All in all, this is a great recording app for managing your recordings, and has some nifty features for sharing recording, as well as modification when you initially make your recording. However, for people who just want to record a quick note, it might be too much. For people that are looking for a more detailed, “business” type recorder, this fits the bill pretty well. At $1.99, the price isn’t bad (although it may be going back up to $4.99)

Forum Review Rating

[iPodRecorder is available via the iTunes App Store]

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

Forum Review: iProRecorder for iPhone

‘Premium’ App Store Rumors Revived

Wired revives rumors of a "premium" App Store dedicated to applications for the iPhone and iPod touch priced at $20 or more. The move could provide a means for more sophisticated apps to be featured and protected from the downward pricing pressure s...

March Madness comes to the iPhone

Filed under: Video, iPhone, iPod touch

The NCAA and CBS Sports have teamed up to stream the upcoming Men's College Basketball Championship tournament for free online at NCAA March Madness on Demand. You can watch the "high quality" videos online for free, but even more interesting is a nifty $4.99 iPhone / iPod touch app (iTunes link) which allows you to watch every game from the first round to the National Championship. Unfortunately, this will only work over WiFi and not 3G. Nonetheless, if you've a big college hoops fan this looks like a must-have app.

CBS Sports NCAA March Madness On Demand is $4.99 from the iTunes Store.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

March Madness comes to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

March Madness comes to the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google to shut down popular iPhone SMS app

Google will block an iPhone application called Infinite SMS that harnesses its Google Talk chat program, the service's owner announced recently. "Got an email from Google. They say they’re going to start blocking sometime tomorrow, 11 March 2009,"  as Innerfence wrote in their site yesterday. This app, which cost 99 cents,  ...