New Mobile Google Calendar on the iPhone too

Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhone, iPod touch

Hot on the heels of the new version of Gmail Mobile for the iPhone comes a new mobile version of Google Calendar leveraging some of the same technology. The previous iteration was frustratingly feature-poor, allowing you only to view your appointments and add new ones using a natural language interface which could be frustrating with the iPhone's keyboard. Thankfully the new version has a more typical appointment entry screen.

Better appointment entry is nice, but the big new features in the new version of Google Calendar for the iPhone are the ability to edit existing appointments, invite other people to events, and the ability to manage appointment invitations and attendance statuses.

Although the official announcement on the Official Google Mobile Blog inexplicably downplays it, Google Calendar now has a modicum of offline functionality on the iPhone and Android phones. Now even if you have no network connection it can still show you appointments that you've previously viewed, though you can't edit them. Hopefully this matures into a true offline capability in future versions, but it's sure nice to know that you can get to your appointments if you need to when you're without a network connection.

New Mobile Google Calendar on the iPhone too originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New Mobile Google Calendar on the iPhone too originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Gmail Mobile site released for iPhone (and Android)

Filed under: Internet Tools, iPhone, iPod touch

Back in March I made a plea for a native Gmail application on the iPhone. As it turned out, Google was working on a new version of the Gmail Mobile site that takes advantage of HTML5 features like database storage to provide caching functionality on the iPhone and Android phones. The demo was compelling; a super-fast Gmail experience that includes long-awaited features like full label support, the ability to apply changes to multiple messages at once, and a floating action bar (dubbed the "floaty bar") that allows you to archive, delete, mark read/unread, add or remove a star, or mark messages as spam without having to scroll to the top or bottom of the thread you are viewing to do so.

The demo was certainly exciting, but though I was hoping would be released soon, I was fearing we were still a year away from seeing this new version of Gmail Mobile. Boy, was I wrong.

This sexy new web version of Gmail Mobile was released yesterday, and as a heavy Gmail user I have only one word for it: Glorious! Okay, I'm a blogger, so we know I never only have one word for something. But if you've been using the built in Mail app on your iPhone to avoid the clunky web version, it's time to try Google Mobile again.

While it's a huge, massive improvement on the previous version, the new Google Mobile is not without areas that could use improvement. For one, it is very slow to load. For me, I'm willing to put up with this since once it does load everything is significantly faster than it was. But it would certainly be nice to see an improvement in this regard, and that's something that was hinted at on the Official Gmail blog post announcing this new version. Another small annoyance is that the buttons are smaller than standard iPhone buttons, and there are more of them. It's manageable, but does require a bit of extra care and attention.

All in all, a very solid improvement, and one that makes working with email on the iPhone significantly more pleasant for Gmail users.

New Gmail Mobile site released for iPhone (and Android) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New Gmail Mobile site released for iPhone (and Android) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video-In and Magnetometers Could Introduce Interesting iPhone App Possibilites

The discovery that Apple's next iPhone might contain both video input as well as a magnetometer (digital compass) opens up some interesting possibilities for future iPhone applications.

Over at TouchArcade, game researcher Blair MacIn...

Apple Unleashes 3 New “There’s an App for That” iPhone Commercials

Turned on my TV last night and what did I see? A new iPhone commercial showing off apps to me!

Still on the “There’s an App for That” theme, these new commercials are titled Itchy, Office, and Student. Here’s the list and the iTunes App Store links:

• Itchy features Compass Go ($1.99), iBird Explorer Plus ($19.99), and Howcast (FREE)
• Office features Credit Card Terminal ($49.99), Print & Share ($6.99), and FedEx (FREE)
• Student features Apartments (FREE), SnapTel (FREE), and Photogene ($2.99)

Interesting mix of premium and FREE price points there Apple! (And thanks for keeping things on the low end for the students). Check them out on Apple.com, and if you like what you see, get yourself to the App Store.

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

Apple Unleashes 3 New “There’s an App for That” iPhone Commercials

Google updates Gmail, Calendar for iPhone

Google released new Mobile Safari-optimized versions of Gmail and Google Calendar.

Monopoly for iPhone: Most Played Board Game comes to iPhone [iPhone Game Review]

Review: WordsWorth 1.4 for iPhone

An addictive and challenging word-finding puzzle game for the iPhone, marred by a few problems.

Review: MyWords — Chinese for iPhone

Learning a language can be difficult, by MyWords from Innovative Language Learning attempts to make the process fun and effective. This Chinese app -- one of 37 languages offered by the developer -- is a particularly helpful learning tool.

Apple seen readying huge Wi-Fi boost for iPod touch, iPhone

Apple seems to be laying the groundwork to introduce high-capacity, low-power 802.11n Wi-Fi to both the iPhone and iPod touch, Network World reports.

Google’s new Gmail mobile web app sports offline message caching, lots of floaty goodness

Continue reading Google's new Gmail mobile web app sports offline message caching, lots of floaty goodness

Filed under: Cellphones

Google's new Gmail mobile web app sports offline message caching, lots of floaty goodness originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Computerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store

ComputerWorld has an interesting item this morning by Mike Elgan. It speculates about new features in the anticipated iPhone coming this summer, including an FM transmitter to send iPhone audio to a car radio. It's also thought that the new 3.0 software will enable stereo bluetooth streaming to a car suitably equipped.

There's no doubt that these features might convince many to either skip satellite radio, or to not renew current contracts.

All that is bad news for Sirius/XM, but the newly merged companies have done plenty to shoot themselves. Many subscribers think the merger was badly done, and many favorite channels were killed with no notice. As an XM subscriber I experienced that first hand when no heads up was given to customers about massive channel changes until the day of the switch last fall. For a communications company, that's pretty poor communications.

With an iPhone that can stream stereo Bluetooth, services like Pandora, LastFM, AOL Radio, and Simplify Media become more mobile in the car. I'd have to think twice about renewing XM or Sirius. Although new car sales are in the dumper, a great many new vehicles are delivered with iPod adapters, giving even more impetus for users to take their own music with them rather than to be stuck with a costly, and seemingly diminishing satellite radio service.

The whole theory behind Sirius/XM was to get radio worth paying for. To a degree, the iPhone and iPod have changed that equation, because you can take your favorite music with you, either your own or music from the new streaming music services. But getting the music into your car audio system was a chore if you weren't pre-wired for it. If indeed Apple makes the integration of the iPhone into the car easier, I think satellite radio will have to re-think its business plan, a plan that is already in tatters.

How about you? Do you subscribe to Sirius/XM now? Has the economy changed your plans? Would new options to get iPhone audio on your car make you think again about that costly subscription plan?

Computerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Computerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Voice App Coming to the iPhone?

Again with the Google! This time it’s GV Mobile (short for Google Voice, the re-branded Grand Central service) and the above video comes courtesy of Sean Kovacs.

If it’s a correct reflection of what we’ll see when/if GV Mobile hits the App Store, then it seems to be focused primarily on using Google Voice to make almost Skype-like calls. Google Voice is, of course, far more than a simple calling service, so you also get SMS sending (receiving is handled via the built-in, default iPhone SMS/Messages app), as well as voicemail.

So, is this the Google Voice goodness you’ve been waiting for?

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

Google Voice App Coming to the iPhone?

New iPhone: iPhone OS 3.0 reveals User Interface of Video Recording Feature

Google Updates Gmail and Calendar WebApp for iPhone

Says Google’s blog:

Today we’re happy to announce a new and improved experience when you access Gmail and Calendar through the browser of your iPhone and Android-powered devices. What’s new? For Gmail, we’ve improved the user interface to make it easier to message on the go, and we’ve introduced “Floaty Bar,” which makes sure common actions such as archive and delete are only a click away (check out the video tour below). You can also start the application, compose mail, and open recently read messages even when you’re offline. With the new Calendar, you can edit or respond to an event and, like Gmail, the app is accessible even without a network connection. To quickly navigate between Gmail, Calendar, and other mobile applications, you can use the classic links that now always appear across the top of the screen. The “more” menu provides easy access to the full list of applications. To read more about what’s new, take a look at the Gmail and Calendar posts on the Mobile blog.

Google claims they’re focusing on WebApps over native apps because they’re faster to iterate which makes sense, especially if they want to leverage their work across all WebKit mobile devices (iPhone, Android, and soon Palm Pre). Still, we have to ask…

Where’s our native push Gmail?!

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

Google Updates Gmail and Calendar WebApp for iPhone

iPhone 3.0 video recording interface, compass support spotted? (Update: voice dialing, too)

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_3_0_video_recording_interface_leaked'; iPhone OS 3.0 is riddled with hints that video recording is on the way, and the latest is is this supposed screenshot of a revised camera app with a video toggle. MacRumors says it comes up when certain config files are edited to make it seem like a video camera is present, but it's not clear exactly what steps have to be taken, so we're treating this one cautiously until we can confirm it. Other secret features buried in the plists are said to include "auto-focus camera," "voice control," and "magenetometer," which is assumed to be a compass. Yep, all stuff we'd expect from an iPhone revision around, say, June, but nothing earth-shattering -- and if the video features are as mediocre as the current iPhone camera, we don't think the Flips of this world have too much to worry about.

Update: Boy Genius Report has scored some other 3.0-culled goodies, including what appears to be voice dialing ("Voice Control" as they're calling it), a digital battery strength readout, and further evidence of video support. Beta 3, where are you?

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

iPhone 3.0 video recording interface, compass support spotted? (Update: voice dialing, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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4 Track Recording for the iPhone with Four Track

When I was in highschool, I saved all of my money to buy a Tascam 4 track portastudio so I could learn how to record my own songs. One of my friends had one and was creating some really cool music using it. Buying that 4 track machine was my ...

AT&T Cracking Down - iPhone 3G Users Currently on Other Plans Be Warned

Last week AT&T created quite a ruckus for altering their ToS, but after the backlash they ultimately decided against it. Well, we may be looking at round 2 here.

This time a tipster has told TiPb that iPhone 3G owners in the Atlanta and Austin markets who are not currently provisioned with an iPhone 3G data plan will receive an SMS message advising them that an iPhone 3G rate plan will be added to their line of service. These customers will begin receiving SMS messages today and the plans will be provisioned on the evenings of April 8th and 9th. It appears that AT&T just tapped these two cities as a trial run, the rest of the country should start getting similar alerts on April 21st.

So what does all of this mean? There are a few possibilities, depending on your mobile situation:

• If you are using an iPhone 3G and you snuck in one of AT&T’s MediaNET data plans for $15 you will be forced on the $30 iPhone 3G data plan.
• For those of you who share SIM cards between an iPhone and Blackberry while using a Blackberry data plan, well it may be a bit more troublesome. Since your BlackBerry requires a BlackBerry plan to work, you’ll need to make extra-double-sure you don’t get an alert and if you do, you will want to call up AT&T right away and explain that you’re a SIM-swapper and to leave your plan set to your BB plan — which will hopefully continue to work fine on an iPhone.
• Lastly, with a PDA Unlimited data plan, expect minimal damage.  It’s theoretically possible that MMS will not work since the iPhone currently does not support MMS, at least until AT&T flips the switch when iPhone OS 3.0 drops.  So check that.

The upshot is this: if AT&T starts noticing that you’re using an iPhone 3G, they’re going to start enforcing their long-standing policy that you use an iPhone 3G plan. If you’re a regular SIM-swapper, you might be in for some hassles, depending on what your current plan is.

The thing that really rubs TiPb the wrong way is that the BlackBerry, PDA, and iPhone data plans all are $30. Why not allow us to change our devices as we see fit and keep it simple by one data plan to rule them all.  BlackBerry users who try to switch their SIM to another device have long lived with the pain of not having a plan that easily works on non-BB phones.  For now, iPhone plans do work fine on other devices.

So to all of the SIM swappers out there or for those of you who flew under the radar, how are you feeling about this?  Isn’t part the point of having a GSM phone being able to swap the SIM with minimal hassle?

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

AT&T Cracking Down - iPhone 3G Users Currently on Other Plans Be Warned

It’s a wunder-ful day: win a copy of Wunder Radio 1.6

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

We've had lots of giveaway goodness going on at TUAW lately. We had the MacHeist bundle giveaway, and now we're giving away 20 copies of Wunder Radio 1.6 (click opens iTunes).

Wunder Radio is from the smart folks at Weather Underground, and it's an impressive app for listening to over 30,000 radio stations worldwide. The new version 1.6 has a new, more aesthetic design, and an internal web browser has been added for surfing while you're soaking up the tunes. Wunder Radio is now localized in Spanish, German, Italian, French, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Brazilian Portugese.

Despite the global reach of Wunder Radio, our contest is limited to readers from the US (sorry, promo codes only work in the US). Read the rules below for details, and good luck.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us which radio station you want to listen to using Wunder Radio.
• The comment must be left before April 8, 5:00PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Twenty winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: one license code for Wunder Radio ($5.99 value)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

It's a wunder-ful day: win a copy of Wunder Radio 1.6 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a wunder-ful day: win a copy of Wunder Radio 1.6 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New version of Fring released to the App Store

A new version of Fring is now available on the App Store, adding some functionality for “fringsters” to use this service on the original iPhone, iPhone 3G or iPod Touch. Using fring, you can interact with friends on all your favorite social networks including Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM. From [...]

Verisign VIP access released for the iPhone - adds new security for web logins

Here’s a very cool and free new app if you are concerned about online logins and security on your iPhone. It’s called VIP Access, and it’s from the solid and well-established online security outfit, Verisign, that’s been around for years. Once you install VIP Access, and activate the extra security layer at any of its [...]