Qik’s iPhone App Available on the App Store but doesn’t Broadcast Live Video

Review: CIA World Factbook apps for the iPhone

The App Store offers plenty of mobile versions of The CIA World Factbook. But with all the offerings providing similar content, which version is worth your time and money? Ben Boychuk says it all comes down to user interface.

CourseSmart brings textbooks to an iPhone near you

Filed under: iPhone

The electronic textbooks pandemic, er, market, continues to spread its influence to handheld gadgets: PC World reports that CourseSmart, an e-textbook publisher, has created an iPhone application, eTextbooks for the iPhone [iTunes link], to make its entire 7,000+ title catalog available on your index card of a screen.

CourseSmart, which does not publish books itself, sells downloadable electronic versions of textbooks through its website that can also be viewed online once they're purchased. The free iPhone application just adds an extra point of access, and falls on the "internet" side of the fence-you can't actually download the whole textbook to your phone, so the experience may be a bit shoddy when you're trying to flip through the pages during an exam in a basement classroom.

The application is also continually advertised as allowing access to 7,000 titles, but it is important to note that you only have access to titles you have already paid for through their site (pedantic, I know, but I found myself wondering about this point after reading the announcement). A tiny LCD screen has little value for long library sessions, but the teeny version of your book should work in a pinch when you forget Gauss' Law right before your physics exam. Just hope that your classroom isn't underground.

[PC World via Engadget]

CourseSmart brings textbooks to an iPhone near you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

CourseSmart brings textbooks to an iPhone near you originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone devs offered cash to code for the Zune HD?

We've all been a bit up in arms about the apparent lack of a push for apps on the Zune HD given the platform's obvious strengths, but news from Daring Fireball seems to suggest that may not be the whole story. According to John Gruber, after publishing a short story on the ZHD and Microsoft's seeming lack of developer interest, he was contacted by an iPhone dev who claimed to have been pinged by Redmond to code for the new device. According to the source -- a Twitter client-maker -- he was asked to port his software to the Zune platform for "a bucket of money," though he ultimately declined the offer. Details beyond that fact are scarce, though apparently this dev is "certain" the offer was for the Zune. We won't argue for the benefits of having your application on two high-profile devices (clearly a personal decision), but it is extremely encouraging to hear that Microsoft sees the need to bring more than just basic functionality to a device like the Zune HD. Now, it's just a question of how smartly they go about it.

[Via The iPhone Blog]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

iPhone devs offered cash to code for the Zune HD? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Attempting to Recruit App Store Developers for Zune HD?

Microsoft may be trying to draw iPhone and iPod touch developers away to develop apps for the Zune platform. Daring Fireball's John Gruber describes an e-mail he received from an iPhone developer in response to a previous article from Gruber ...

Qik for iPhone Lands in the App Store — Without Live Streaming

Popular live video streaming app, Qik — previously available to Jailbreak users — has finally landed in the iTunes App Store… without its live streaming capability. This version of Qik (Free - iTunes link) records video from an iPhone 3GS which you can later upload via Wi-Fi. (A tragedy given how well the beta for the full version works!).

Boy Genius caught the story, and gets all up in Apple’s face about the continued crippling of applications, though we can’t help but wonder if this again falls into AT&T’s new prohibition against streaming apps, which saw SlingMedia Player relegated to Wi-Fi only status?

Apparently a 3G version has been submitted to Apple, but until and unless the FCC forces some answers, we may not see any movement on that either. Of course, the aforementioned, un-crippled Jailbreak version remains an option.

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

Qik for iPhone Lands in the App Store — Without Live Streaming

Akamai streams PGA championship to iPhone users

The only thing more boring than sitting at my grandmother's house (where there is no Internet, TV or video games) is watching golf on TV. Some people really get into golf, but for me it ranks up there with dental checkups on my list of things I like to do. If ...

From the Forums: 2010 iPhone, Bluetooth Headsets, Network Use, iPhone Help

Welcome to From the Forums. If you are curious as to what all of the hot topics are on the TiPb forums, this is the place to be. In order to create any new threads of your own or reply to any of the following threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you haven’t already, head on over and register now.

The first thread for today was created by anjo and he wants to know - will Apple release a new iPhone in 2010? Now while some of us may already know the answer to this question, this thread has turned into a very detailed account on what exactly what you the consumers are looking for in the next generation of iPhone. Apple are you listening?

Next we have an excellent new poll thread that was just started by our very own forum reviewer, cjvitek - Do you use a bluetooth headset? Swing by this thread and let Chris know how you feel about bluetooth headsets in general and if you do use them, share with everyone which headset you prefer and why.

Here we have a thread from iPheuria and he poses the question regarding your data usage and do you really need carrier supplied data on your iPhone? Most of us here at TiPb feel that a good data connection is necessary to get the full potential out of Apple’s iPhone but what do you think?

So you are having an issue with your iPhone and need some help? Perhaps you have some time to kill and feel like helping others with their iPhone issues? If you answered yes to either of these questions then please stop by and visit our dedicated iPhone Help forum.

See you on the forums!

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

From the Forums: 2010 iPhone, Bluetooth Headsets, Network Use, iPhone Help

Microsoft Offering iPhone Developers “Buckets of Money” to go Zune?

Has Microsoft been approaching successful iPhone developers, offering “a bucket of money” for them to port their popular apps over to the new Zune HD platform? That’s what Daring Fireball is hearing:

I got an email from the developer of an iPhone Twitter client. He was contacted by Microsoft a few months ago, with an offer to port his app to the Zune in exchange for “a bucket of money”. He turned them down, but assumes, as I do, that Microsoft reached out to the developers of multiple popular iPhone apps.

There’s no way of knowing how many iPhone devs have gone “Zune for pay” at this point, but it’s a smart move by Microsoft, since they’re trying to compete directly with the iPod touch and apps are a huge part of the iPod touch’s appeal.

Since the iPod touch has had a public SDK and apps since version OS 2.0 was announced and subsequently released over a year ago, Apple’s platform has a huge lead and Microsoft is again left more competitive with previous years’ offerings.

(Here’s hoping Microsoft does release a public Zune HD SDK of their own at some point — and that they finally, finally, decide to share a consistent platform between Zune and Windows Mobile 7…)

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

Microsoft Offering iPhone Developers “Buckets of Money” to go Zune?

Review: Music Library Quiz for iPhone

Think of Music Library Quiz as a version of the old built-in iPod game Music Quiz. The game is a fun way to test your knowledge of your music library, and a recent update has things humming along.