Review: Time Crisis Strike for iPhone

The iPhone gets a lightgun game from the arcades, well adapted for the device.

Quad-Core Nehalem Apple Notebooks Possible in Q3 2009?

Digitimes reports that Intel has targeted the launch of their next-generation Calpella notebook platform for Q3 2009.

Intel's next-generation Calpella notebook platform will launch as scheduled in the third quarter 2009 and targeting...

US Military Handbook for iPhone / iPod touch

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

We know that a lot of TUAW readers are either active duty or retired US military personnel, so this iPhone app should be of special importance to our friends in (or out) of uniform.

The US Military Handbook (click opens iTunes) provides detailed information for all of the US Armed Forces, and is constantly updated at information changes. The app is currently on sale for US$9.99, and is worth every penny in terms of the volume of info that it contains in its nearly 24 MB of size. While you should visit the developer's website to see all of the details, here's a sampling of what you can expect:

• Income Matrixes, including active duty base pay, allowances, and sea duty
• Reference materials, including the Code of Conduct, Officer Oaths, Drill and Ceremony Q&A, and even the songs and lyrics for each branch of the services.
• Rank, insiginias, and titles for each branch
• All current ribbons and medals, in order, for each branch
• A list of over one thousand Veterans Administration facilities, including the phone number, address, and a picture of the facility when available (a network connection is required for images and maps to the facilities).

When I mentioned the constant updates earlier, I wasn't kidding -- the app has had 8 updates in the last 4 months. The US Military Handbook also displays the information in a choice of five different color schemes. If you know a current or retired serviceman/woman with an iPhone or iPod touch, let 'em know you appreciate their service to their country by giving them a copy as a gift for Memorial Day.

US Military Handbook for iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

US Military Handbook for iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Targets iTunes Prices in New Zune Pass Commercial

Microsoft is continuing its attacks on Apple pricing, this time with the launch of a commercial for Zune Pass, Microsoft's monthly subscription plan for digital music. In the commercial, financial planner and former The Apprentice contestant Wes Mos...

PlaceTagger answers the ‘where was this picture taken?’ question

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, App Review

I have a Canon 5D DSLR. It's a great camera, but one of the things I wished it had was an on-board GPS receiver to keep track of where my photos were taken. That would be especially nice since iPhoto and some other apps support reading location metadata embedded in the image.

I've looked at some of the outboard units, like the Amod GPS Logger, but didn't really want to shell out the cash or carry an extra device. Of course, you can take geotagged photos with the built in camera on the iPhone, but they aren't going to match a dedicated high quality DSLR.

Now there is a nice, fairly low cost solution that uses the iPhone you are probably already carrying. PlaceTagger [App Store link] keeps track of where you are from minute to minute, recording your latitude, longitude and altitude. When you unload your camera, an app running on your Mac finds your iPhone using Wi-Fi, and matches the time on the logger software to the time your images were taken. It then embeds the info into the image metadata.

It may sound confusing, but it is pretty simple. When the Mac app launches, it asks you to locate your images, and make sure your iPhone has been found. Your images show up as thumbnails, and when you are ready the software associates the GPS location to each file. The files then display a map of where the image was taken, as well as the specific numerical lat, long and altitude info. When I looked at the information in iPhoto, I saw the above data as well as the city, county, state and country I was in. Cool.

The app is on sale at an introductory price of $7.99US and that is a bargain compared to the outboard electronics packages you could buy. The developer is also doing a Windows version of the app for those that don't have a Mac. The Mac version requires Leopard, and of course an iPhone with GPS capability. Older iPhones will work, but the location won't be as accurate.

The software also includes an Aperture plug-in, and can export the data as XML via email. Of course, this app won't work in the background in the current iPhone software, so if you get a call or have to do something else you'll have to restart the software and get a fresh GPS fix.

All in all, these are a pair of clever applications. They worked as expected, and I liked the ability to see the photos I took with a displayed map and numerical location information all on my Mac.

PlaceTagger answers the 'where was this picture taken?' question originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 May 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PlaceTagger answers the 'where was this picture taken?' question originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 May 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quick App: Resident Evil DEGENERATION for iPhone

Zombie fans take note, today Capcom has released an iPhone and iPod touch version of their most popular video game series into the App Store. Resident Evil DEGENERATION [iTunes Link] is a 3rd-person survival horror shooter that is based on the CG-animated movie of the same name, recently released on Blu Ray and DVD. Some features of this shooter are as follows:

• Use your in-game PDA to collect intel, manage inventory and access maps.
• “Laser targeting” allows the players to make aimed accurate shots.
• Backgrounds, character models and objects are all rendered in full 3D.
• Intuitive context sensitive control scheme.
• Action icons pop up as needed.
• Accelerometer features: >- Shake iPhone/iPod Touch to “Shake of Zombie” melee attacks. >- Tilt back device to reload.

Resident Evil DEGENERATION is now available in the App Store for $5.99. If you pick this one up be sure to let us know what you think!

More screen shots after the break!

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

Quick App: Resident Evil DEGENERATION for iPhone

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone coming shortly: $29.99, no 3G support

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/SlingPlayer_Mobile_for_iPhone_coming_shortly_29_99_no_3G'; After what has become one of the longer (and certainly one of the highest-profile) App Store approval delays, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone has finally gotten Apple's blessing -- with some serious changes under the hood. Most importantly, 3G access has been disabled, meaning you'll only be able to get your Sling on over WiFi -- a serious blow to the app and a huge change from the way SlingPlayer Mobile works on other platforms -- and likely a verification that either Apple or AT&T took serious issue with the bandwidth load imposed by this type of app on the HSPA network. Despite the restriction, Sling will be charging a whopping $29.99 for the download; in exchange for your troubles, though, they've decided to lift the ban on older Slingboxes, with the caveat that they won't be officially supported if you run into trouble.

We've had a chance to play with the app, and it certainly gets the job done -- we just wish it worked a little better. Even on WiFi, control feels laggy, and there's no native guide (though there's an icon to quickly pull up your set-top box's guide). When you're in letterbox mode, you've got black bars around all four sides of the image, meaning that the app isn't taking full advantage of the phone's display; we're hopeful this'll be fixed in a future release, though. Happily, we think Sling really nailed the app's UI -- the on-screen translucent controls are pretty cool and generally work well without obscuring the view. Look to grab your own copy some time between 12:01AM and 6:01AM EDT tomorrow morning, and in the meantime, check out our gallery.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Video

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone coming shortly: $29.99, no 3G support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 May 2009 12:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sudobility’s Range Cam Review

Have you ever found yourself needing a quick estimate of the distance between two objects and found yourself in a pinch because you didn't have a tape measure handy? Well, the ingenious Range Cam app made by Sudobility aims to do just that. Using the built in camera of ...

iPhone apps make $400 to $5,000 per day

AdWhirl, formerly known as Adrollo and serves 250 million ad impressions of the top 50 Apps in the App Store monthly, revealed the success of some of the top ad-supported iPhone apps. AdWhirl says that top apps can make $400 to $5,000 per day on ads, averaging an effective CPM (cost ...

Why do crap apps still exist? They sell.

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

The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog takes a look at "crap apps" -- those pieces of junk on the App Store that do one thing and do it pointlessly, whether that thing be farting or belching or making the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard (yes, really) or what have you. And they come up with a very intriguing, albeit obvious, reason that the App Store seems so filled with completely terrible and silly apps. Why? Because they sell.

Yes, even "legitimate" iPhone developers -- those people working hard to create an innovative touchscreen interface, or bring some crucial functionality to the iPhone -- are finding that of all the apps they release, the crudest and most stupid are the ones that sell. They profile a guy whose serious movie apps aren't selling, but whose cobbled-together-in-five-minutes gimmick apps are making a mint. In short, the reason our App Store is full of way more fart apps than apps like Twitterific 2.0 is because people are paying for the fart ones. The message we're sending with our wallets is that if you want to make a million dollars on the App Store, don't toil away to polish your groundbreaking award-winning puzzle game. Just give us a gag we can show to our friends.

Is it right? I'd say no, but then again, even I have been pulled in to a gimmick app or two: I bought Cat Piano (in my defense, I've gotten enough entertainment out of it to find an easter egg: shake your iPhone while playing). But next time your finger is poised over the "Get App" button on that 99-cent belching app that you just know the friend you're seeing later will get a total kick out of, think to yourself: is that two-second gag worth an App Store full of crappy apps?

Why do crap apps still exist? They sell. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why do crap apps still exist? They sell. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple blocks new “religious” app as being offensive

Apple has rejected yet another iPhone and iPod touch application, Me So Holy, citing “objectionable content.” Similar to the developer Lil’ Shark’s prior photo manipulation app Animalizer, Me So Holy allows users to replace the face of a religious figure with any face from the iPhone’s camera or photo library, optionally adding text. On the product’s [...]

AT&T to significantly improve 3G coverage in many rural areas soon

AT&T on Friday confirmed plans to acquire wireless properties from rival Verizon in a bid to strengthen coverage of its 3G network in rural areas of the US stretching across some 18 states. The deal for $2.35 billion in cash will see the exclusive US iPhone carrier take control of 18 of the 24 markets that [...]

Amazon Kindle Store optimized for Safari/iPhone

It’s not exactly the same as letting you buy Kindle books through the Kindle iPhone app, but it’s useful: iPhone users can now shop for Kindle titles through a store optimized for iPhone Safari. This optimized Kindle store offers both iPhone and iPod touch users easier access to browse and download from Amazon’s library of more [...]

SlingPlayer for iPhone Coming Tonight, Wi-Fi Only, $29.99?

MacRumors may just — finally — have the scoop on the long anticipated, almost as long delayed SlingPlayer for iPhone:

In addition to full support of current Slingboxes (PRO-HD and SOLO), legacy Slingboxes, which include the Classic, AV, and TUNER, will work with the application but will not be officially supported. However, the application will supposedly be limited to streaming only over Wi-Fi connections. Previous demonstrations of the application by Sling Media had promised EDGE and 3G support, however it appears as though this will not be the case.

Maybe those rumors about AT&T not being keen on all that streaming video traffic hitting their network were true? Price is rumored to be $29.99.

So, SlingBox owners, is this the SlingPlayer for iPhone you wanted? Good, great, wait?

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

SlingPlayer for iPhone Coming Tonight, Wi-Fi Only, $29.99?

Review: Wattpad for iPhone

This e-book reading app has a user-friendly (if sparse) interface. Community-driven content should give bibliophiles plenty to browse and enjoy with Wattpad.

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone Release Imminent - Wi-Fi only

MacRumors has heard that Sling Media's long awaited SlingPlayer Mobile may finally appear on the App Store tonight.

In addition to full support of current Slingboxes (PRO-HD and SOLO), legacy Slingboxes, which include the Classic, AV, ...

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone Release Imminent? Wi-Fi only?

MacRumors has heard that Sling Media's long awaited SlingPlayer Mobile may finally appear on the App Store tonight.

In addition to full support of current Slingboxes (PRO-HD and SOLO), legacy Slingboxes, which include the Classic, AV, ...

Resident Evil: Degeneration released for iPhone and iPod touch

Resident Evil: Degeneration is a new game for the iPhone based on the new CG movie.

Vodafone setting up own app store

Vodafone is planning to set up its own app store by giving developers access to its vast customer base

Quick App: Peggle for iPhone

Jobs help me, I’ve never played Peggle, but the internet seems to be fair close to exploding with the news that it’s now available for the iPhone. From PopCap, the company behind mobile stalwart Bejeweled, Peggle comes in at $4.99 and can be yours via iTunes.

For those of you who do know Peggle — tell me, what have I been missing?

(Thanks Chuck for the tip!)

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

Quick App: Peggle for iPhone