Tuesday Fright Video: Windows 95 Ported to iPhone

I forget if this brings us 4 minutes to midnight or only 5 on the official app-ocalypse clock, but duck and cover because Windows 95 has been ported to run on an iPhone.

Ish. Gizmodo, via GoodiPhone, has the deets:

The hack makes use of a standard Windows 95 image and the Bochs emulator, though as you can expect, the performance is thoroughly crummy. They’re working on getting Windows XP to work too. An abomination, I say.

So say we all.

But hey, at least it wasn’t Windows ME…

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

Tuesday Fright Video: Windows 95 Ported to iPhone

WWDC Demo: Slick Shopper

Filed under: WWDC, iPhone, iPod touch

Slick Shopper is a slick little list app. It does one very specific thing: make shopping lists. In fact, the developer thought through little details such as a location-specific context for your lists. If you're needing things only in your bedroom (perhaps a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond is in your future?), Slick Shopper will winnow the list down to just those items with a couple of clicks.

While list apps are plentiful on the store, yet again we see a plethora of choices covering niche angles. Now the only problem is not littering your iPhone with list apps -- not to be confused with "to do" apps. Slick Shopper (iTunes link) is currently $.99 on the App Store

WWDC Demo: Slick Shopper originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WWDC Demo: Slick Shopper originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quick App: GoodReader Large PDF, Image, and TXT Viewer for iPhone

GoodReader [$4.99 - iTunes link], sent to us courtesy of editor emeritus Mike Overbo, is an app to help iPhone and iPod touch users view very large PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format), images, and TXT (plain text) files.

While it can use the built-in iPhone file viewer for Office and iWork, GoodReader has its own, very fast renderer for:

• very large PDF’s, fast opening, password protected files, 50x zoom, text search, bookmarks
• very large TXT’s, fast opening, no zooming or left/right scrolling required (text lines are wrapped to screen size), text search, bookmarks
• high-resolution pictures, slideshow

The new version also allows for USB file transfer.

If you like your files BIG, and decide to give GoodReader a try, let us know how it works for you.

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

Quick App: GoodReader Large PDF, Image, and TXT Viewer for iPhone

Is Apple Blocking Push Notification on Jailbroken iPhones?

148apps posted up a PR from a developer in the Czech Republic that states:

“When the Push based application such as NotifyMe requests an ID from APNS, the server responds within a second and identifies the device with the unique token. From that point, the connection between APNS and user’s device is successfully established,” said Pavel Serbajlo, PoweryBase’s lead developer. “However, on a unofficially activated device, APNS keeps the application wait forever and does not provide any respond at all, keeping user wait infinitely or time out the connection, if the target application is capable of timing out.”

Last week we mentioned Jailbreak users were having problems with Push, but a lot of you responded that things seemed just fine, or that an updated Jailbreak process fixed it for you.

So that makes us wonder, is Push Notification really not working? And if it’s not, is Apple really blocking it, or is it just not set up to recognize some Jailbroken iPhones that weren’t activated in the usual way via iTunes?

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

Is Apple Blocking Push Notification on Jailbroken iPhones?

How to: Search Old MobileMe Mail on the Server

Apple’s lone outstretched hand to the social web, the MobileMe News “blog” is back with another helpful hint for users, this time about using iPhone 3.0 to search older email on the server:

select your Inbox or another folder from your MobileMe Mail account and access the search field by scrolling to the top of the message list. (Tap the status bar at the top to quickly reveal the search field.) Type what you want to search for and tap To, From, or Subject, or All to search all three. You’ll see the messages that match the search on your device, and you can then tap “Continue Search on Server” to see the remaining messages that are stored in the MobileMe cloud.

I’ve used this to find old order info, network machine names, and scads of other stuff buried in server-side email. Since it doesn’t (yet?) search the body of the email, it’s not as useful as Gmail’s WebApp, for example, but it’s lightyears ahead of where it was under 2.2.1.

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

How to: Search Old MobileMe Mail on the Server

Apple Patents Reveal Object-Face Detection, Smart Messaging, Voice Modulcation might be coming to iPhone

Finding an app in a haystack

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

As of July 11th, the iPhone/iPod touch App Store housed 56,081 different apps according to Jeff Scott of 148apps.com.

Taking a quick look, I found over 400 different fart apps. This alone is pretty scary and would lead me to believe that any app that might be either useful or funny, or even totally pointless, has so many variations that without knowing an app name, searching for something that interests me would soon become a Herculean task.

Apple hasn't made this easy since using the iTunes store search is pretty rough and usually brings up many choices that don't seem to contain what you want. i really hope that Apple addresses this in the future since the current method just isn't nearly good enough.

As is often the case, intrepid app aficionados have jumped into the fray and given us some help in finding just the right app:

• Freeappalert.com prints a listing, updated daily, of apps that have just gone from paid to free. This is a great place to start a search because more than once have I run into the situation where I bought an app and later found that a free one did just as good if not better. To give you an example, the site has listed fifteen apps that just went free today, July 13th. They also provide a listing of apps that became free over the last few days.
• Appshopper.com lets you search by topics such as: what's new, what's free, what has been updated, and what has changed in price. The site mentions that it's still in testing and more features will be forthcoming. Recent additions to the site include buttons for "Want it" and "Have it."
  
• 148apps.com, along with listing what's new and free, relates their favorite 148 apps along with tracking 148 games, both free and paid, as well as 148 general apps, again both free and paid.
• Iviewer.com is in the midst of collecting apps from readers. They are looking for apps that haven't appeared in any top 10 lists. This doesn't seem as if would provide as broad a field of information as the other sites.
• Macworld's App Guide is the best-organized and most functional site I've found. Apps are categorized by type, which alone saves a lot of time. Price reductions are noted as well as groups of popular apps featured. The nicest part of the site is a really functional search box that puts the one found in the iTunes store to shame. Type in a phrase and you will get nicely sorted, useful results. I've found this to be less than complete, but as someone once said: 'in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King.'
  

Try some of these out and see if it helps you successfully navigate through the quickly increasing mountain of apps.

I know that I haven't scratched the surface of sites that can help with app searching, so please tell us what you have found and what makes your site discovery unique and especially helpful in marketing iPhone/iTouch apps.

Finding an app in a haystack originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Finding an app in a haystack originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 95 on iPhone: the worst Parallels installation you’ve ever seen

Give a guy an iPhone, a jailbreak, and an open-source, cross-platform x86 emulator, and it's just a matter of time before hilarity ensues. In this case, said hilarity involves getting Windows 95 to boot on an iPhone 3G, a process that takes 5-10 minutes worth of pure boot time only to yield an environment useless for... well, actual use. In the video, we see the hack demonstrated both on an actual iPhone and within the Mac-based emulator, which we reckon is just about the most terrifying Parallels / VMware replacement we've ever encountered. Apparently, XP emulation and 3GS tests are up next -- the 3GS should perform marginally better on account of its faster core and more capacious RAM -- but that still won't cure the sting of being handily beaten to the milestone by the N95, will it? Follow the break for video of the mind-twisting Microsoft-on-Apple-on-Apple emulation in action.

[Via Gizmodo and Good iPhone]

Continue reading Windows 95 on iPhone: the worst Parallels installation you've ever seen

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Windows 95 on iPhone: the worst Parallels installation you've ever seen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Where To? for the iPhone

A series of updates since our initial review has Ben Boychuk rethinking his opinion of this location-based business finder.

The mighty mini, take two: DIY video baby monitor

Filed under: Video, Cool tools, How-tos, Mac mini, iPhone

What do you get when you combine a new parent on maternity leave with a love of gadgets and Apple products? Why, you get "baby monitor overkill!"

In response to Dave Caolo's recent ode to the Mac mini, I figured it was time to step up. I had two things gathering dust: my old standalone iSight, a gorgeous example of Apple design sadly idle since the advent of built-in iSights, and a lovely new Intel Mac Mini that was recently scored on sale at MicroCenter with plans to set it up for my older two kids once I could get my hands on a small LCD monitor.

I figured in the meantime it would serve nicely as a baby monitor, since I couldn't find a matching transmitter/receiver pair among the various baby monitors I had accumulated over the years. My idea was that it would live discreetly, headless and tailless (monitor, keyboard, and mouse-free) in the baby's room, and broadcast both locally on my network and also wide-area so grandparents could tune in remotely.

For the initial setup, I needed a monitor, but fortunately my TV has a PC (VGA) port, which I used to configure the mini. I set it to login automatically to the main account and join my Airport network. In System Preferences, I enabled screen sharing and added iChat as a login item. In iChat, I enabled Bonjour and instant messaging, added myself as a buddy, and restricted chats to preapproved users under security preferences. Because I didn't want to connect via screen sharing every time I wanted ot initiate a chat, I typed the following into Terminal so that it would auto-accept any incoming video chats:

defaults write com.apple.ichat AutoAcceptVCInvitations 1

After that, I set it adrift on the network. From my main computer, I watched the mini pop up on Bonjour after reboot, and we were off and running.

While this worked great for my own local use, it had some inherent restrictions: remote users (aka "grandparents who love to watch sleeping grandsons") couldn't join the chat easily. Spouses at work had issues with company restrictions on AIM. Plus, it was iPhone-unfriendly; the holy grail for me was turning the iPhone into a video terminal that followed me around.

I went through a few different ideas: private channel on Justin.tv (great for multiple viewers, but awash in advertising, restricted at work, and unavailable on iPhone), Skype (great video, automatic call acceptance and limited iPhone capabilities, but terrible for multiple viewers), and complicated setups involving QuickTime Broadcaster. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel (well, no more than I already was doing), I hit upon SJKM's iCam software, which is an iPhone application & accompanying cross-platform video streaming tool specifically designed for video monitoring, available in the iTunes store for $4.99. Initially dismissed for lack of audio, it has since enabled audio monitoring and non-iPhone web access, making it an almost perfect setup. Why "almost?" Well, for reasons I cannot quite figure out, the video is much choppier than AIM, Bonjour, Justin.tv, or Skype. But it works over 3G and Wi-Fi, and it connects multiple viewers without requiring conference setup.

And now, with SJKM's latest update, iCam can run in the background and push notification will alert me to sound or video motion. I have not yet enabled that feature, as it is a $.99 add-on and still pending Apple approval in the store.

Ultimately, I ended up using a variety of different applications, but I can report a lot of very satisfied relatives dreamily cooing at the computer screens from Portland, OR, to Philadelphia, PA. All thanks to the mac mini and the standalone iSight. And one very cute baby (if I do say so myself.)

Upcoming: that's great, but can you make it work in the dark? Adventures in IR.....

The mighty mini, take two: DIY video baby monitor originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The mighty mini, take two: DIY video baby monitor originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WWDC Demo: Flogger, a flight logger for iPhone

Filed under: Cool tools, WWDC, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch

We're winding down the last of our WWDC video demos this week, and today we're looking at Flogger, a simple but powerful flight logger for iPhones and iPod touch handhelds (despite a name that might make you look twice). I'm not a pilot, but some of the features sounded pretty nifty, including a method for exporting your logs to Google Docs, right in the app. Other nice options include a huge database of airport codes, the ability to flag entries as simulator flights, and a fast method for adding crew members from your Address Book.

Flogger (iTunes link) is currently $9.99 in the App Store.

WWDC Demo: Flogger, a flight logger for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WWDC Demo: Flogger, a flight logger for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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3D CSS Effects in Snow Leopard Safari, And More on Future of Video and Flash?

In the past, we've speculated that Apple's resistance to supporting Adobe's Flash on the iPhone and their efforts to add new features to HTML/CSS is, in part, to reduce their long term dependence on Flash.

Ajaxian points to an impres...

Apple Blocking Push Notifications on Unlocked iPhones? [Updated]

In a blog post over the weekend and a press release issued today, Czech iPhone developer PoweryBase notes that Apple appears to be blocking Push Notifications on iPhones that have been unlocked for use on non-official wireless carriers. PoweryBase ...

Review: Doom Resurrection for iPhone

An impressive technical achievement, Doom Resurrection has its moments. But its "rail-shooter"-style mechanics make it feel more like an amusement park ride than a game.

iPhone — the Hottest Gaming Platform on Earth?

According to Business Insider, just 1 year later, Apple’s iTunes App Store has made the iPhone the hottest gaming platform on earth:

Apple became not only the hottest mobile platform in the world — which around 15,000 developers have made software for, and all of its major rivals have tried to replicate — but arguably the hottest gaming platform in the world. No other platform has had such a rush of developer and consumer interest in the last year.

BI highlight big name developers like EA, Sega, and Gameloft jumping into the iPhone, but also great new studios forming around it like ngmoco. And with iPhone 3.0 and its 1000 new APIs like P2P gaming and in-app purchases, they suggest we might not have seen anything yet…

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

iPhone — the Hottest Gaming Platform on Earth?

Worms strategy game slithers onto iPhone

Worms -- the classic turn-based artillery strategy game featuring cartoon worms -- has been released for iPhone.

Two app updates rejected by Apple over internet content

Apple has rejected updates to two more applications—FastFinder from Bananas Design and Chirp! Bird Songs from Spiny Software—due to what the company considers to be an inappropriate rating based on the apps’ ability to connect to the Internet. FastFinder allows users to quickly query a variety of search engines and other services such as IMDB, [...]

Apps For Less: Mummy’s Revenge, Brothers In Arms: Hour of Heros, G-Map East/West

For those of you who are not familiar with our Apps for Less posts, they are a great way for us to point out a few good applications available in the App Store that are currently on sale or at a price that we feel is worth mentioning to our readers.

To get things kicked off we have a game that all of you Zombieville USA fans will be sure to enjoy, Mummy’s Revenge. [iTunes Link] For a limited time you can now purchase Mummy’s Revenge for $.99! This price will not last long so don’t wait to make your purchase!

This next game is for all of the first person shooter fans out there, Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes [iTunes Link] has dropped in price a few bucks to $4.99. If you never had the chance to check out msbaylor’s forum review, be sure to take a minute and see what this game is all about. You are sure not to be disappointed.

This last application is my current favorite GPS navigation application with voice turn-by-turn directions available today in the App Store. G-Map East and G-Map West [iTunes Links] are now available for $34.99 each. Here are some great features of G-Maps:

• No Wi-Fi/3G connection needed for route guidance (Maps are built into application)

• On-board navigation application with the fastest real-time routing

• Full PND features with POIs, cool graphics and UI

• No monthly fee unlike other mobile navigation services

So there you have it, three very high quality applications for you at great prices. If you happen to have an application in the App Store that is on sale and want everyone to know about it, feel free to contact us and let us know!

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

Apps For Less: Mummy’s Revenge, Brothers In Arms: Hour of Heros, G-Map East/West

According to AdMob: iPhone and iPod Touch users are very different animals

When it comes to Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices, marketers may think a one-size-fits-all approach is good enough. New research from AdMob indicates that this approach is wrong because there are specific difference in each set of users which could hinder a single campaign, but could enhance a dual campaign. According to the research, the [...]

iPhone games for 99 cents? Meet EA’s 8 lb Gorilla

What's about to make Apple's iPhone quick and tiny and cheap all over? Electronic Arts, that's what, with their maverick new micro-studio, cutely dubbed 8 lb...