Oklahoma tech center eyes Kindles, iPhones for e-learning

High school and college students could be big beneficiaries of mobile technology by using e-readers and smartphones to access electronic textbooks and other course materials.

AT&T Activates MMS Functionality for U.S. iPhone Users

As previously scheduled, AT&T has activated MMS for iPhone 3G and 3GS users in the United States, bringing to an end months of speculation and waiting since software support for the feature was introduced in iPhone OS 3.0 in mid-June.

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First Look: 12mail Video Messenger for iPhone

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, App Review

The first time I saw the classic movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," I was 10 years old. If the story and the underlying meaning were confusing to me as a kid, the futuristic technology wasn't, and I liked the video communications devices and the flat Newspad.

It's almost 9 years late (2010), but we finally have a cool way to communicate with video, and it doesn't require using a wall-mounted AT&T pay phone. 12mail Video Messenger [iTunes Link] for iPhone brings clear, fast video messaging to your device in 12-second chunks.

An offshoot of 12seconds.tv, 12mail Video Messenger grabs up to a 12 second video on the iPhone 3GS and delivers it to your Facebook and Twitter pals with push notification. If your buds don't have 12mail, they can view the video on their Facebook wall or through Twitter.

While there's not a lot you can say in 12 seconds, the app is great for sending friends short video blips, showing them something funny, or inviting them to join you for a drink. Since 12mail uses geolocation, your friends will know just where you sent your message from.

Some folks may wonder about the advantages of 12mail over MMS, particularly since AT&T is supposed to finally "flip the switch" on that service today. Those advantages are the integration with Facebook and Twitter, as well as the fact that this won't use up your text message allotment.

12mail is fairly simple to use, although I had some issues returning a video message to a person who had just been added to my Twitter "following" list. A query to 12mail's tech support got me a quick response, and I found out that I just needed to tap the refresh button in the top left corner of the list of Twitter users to get the latest people that I'm following. One other little bug seems to be that the "tilt iPhone to start recording" function doesn't work, at least not for me. If you don't have an iPhone that supports video recording, you can still record audio and take one picture to illustrate what's going on.

If you're a Twitter or Facebook user, particularly one with an iPhone 3GS, installing 12mail is a no-brainer. It's fun, it's free, and it's a taste of the future. Check out the gallery for some screenshots of 12mail.

First Look: 12mail Video Messenger for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: 12mail Video Messenger for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Verizon scraps Palm Pre plans

Verizon has reportedly ditched plans to offer the Palm Pre early next year.

Keep your diet on track with Foodscanner for the iPhone

DailyBurn has released a new iPhone app that helps track the calories you consume by scanning bar codes of over 200,000 packaged and jarred foods. It’s called FoodScanner, and we like the idea, even if the price and implementation of it isn’t ideal. But it could make a dieter with an iPhone track their calories [...]

Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone

Filed under: How-tos, Productivity, Tips and tricks, iPhone, Mac 101, iPhone 101, iPod touch

• Be a makeshift DJ. I have a lot of music on in my iTunes Library. If there's something I or my friends want, I'll buy it and add it to the collection. Because of that, I get asked "Can you bring your music to the party tonight." I used to say no, because I didn't want to play DJ all night and miss out on the party. Now, I can setup a network anywhere I go and control my iTunes Library directly from my iPhone with Remote.app -- even play requests during a conversation.
• Keynote presenters unite! Creating a wireless network on your Mac frees you to worry about your presentation not the availability of wireless in the lecture room. Setup a network, connect and you're swiping through your slides.
• Sync applications anywhere, anytime. Victor just pointed this out today... if you're in an airport and need to sync some information from a desktop app to your iPhone, you don't need to pay for the airport wireless. Syncing apps like Bento, MacGourmet, Things, TextExpander or any other apps that sync over the network can update whenever you want without issues.

I'm sure there are many more uses for this idea... those just name a few. Please read on for a step-by-step, illustrated guide to create a wireless network between your Mac and your iPhone (or iPod touch).

Continue reading Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone

Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mac 101: Create a wireless network between Mac and iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom app/device does the posting shuffle

The TomTom Car Kit for the iPhone 3GS isn’t going to be fully baked until October according to the company brass, but all of a sudden it was posted yesteday to a few European Apple online store sites, and then it was suddenly gone, with little explanation. Nothing like a little iPhone app controversy to [...]

GMail get pushed officially for the iPhone

Despite the fact that it wears on the battery quite a bit, there isn’t anything as cool or convenient on mobile phones than push email, and GMail is among the most popular free email out there today. Before now, many apps tried to simulate and fill in the gap that was official GMail push support, some [...]

Analysis: Could iPhone MMS crash AT&T’s network?

The launch of MMS for AT&T iPhones is expected to boost traffic, but MMS hasn't been a big hit on other phones.

Review: Time.com Mobile for iPhone

This handsome news app for the iPhone and iPod touch does a fine job with presenting the news. Unfortunately, the photo essays that are a major focus of the app don't come off well on a mobile device.

Bose unveils expensive SoundDock 10 for iPhone

Say the name Bose to your average gadget hound and they will think of expensive products that tend to sound good. That is an accurate description of the latest product from Bose that has debuted today called the SoundDock 10. The SoundDock 10 is an iPhone and iPod speaker dock that ...

iTwinge keyboard mounts to your iPhone

Just about every iPhone owner has at one time or another hated the virtual keyboard that the phone uses. That means that a large percentage of iPhone users have wished at some point that a keyboard was available for the phone. A new keyboard called the iTwinge had been unveiled for ...

Vers handcrafted wood cases for iPhone

Most iPhone users have their device in a case of some sort. Those cases tend to be made from plastic or silicone and all of them look pretty much the same. If you are after a case that looks different and comes from renewable and beautiful materials Vers has the ...

NAVIGON adds new features to iPhone nav app

NAVIGON announced today that it has added new features to its iPhone navigation application. This is the second free update for the nav app for North American users since the application launched. The update adds a new text-to-speech function to allow the voice prompts to read street names and turn-by-turn directions. ...

5 apps for the radio lover

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

Radio just isn't the way it used to be. It's not that "this ain't your father's radio." This isn't even the radio you knew five years ago. A loosening of media ownership rules (via the 1996 Telecommunications Act) has transformed what was once a local medium into more of a national one, one that put playing more "safe" mainstream material repeatedly in place of diverse content. And while Internet streaming has opened our ears to specific tastes that align with our listening palettes, it didn't align with our increasingly mobile lifestyles. The advent of the App store, however, has created an ecosystem of apps that stream audio content while also aligning with our mobile lifestyles, and I'll highlight a few of my essentials.

Continue reading 5 apps for the radio lover

5 apps for the radio lover originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

5 apps for the radio lover originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TI joins HP, creates official business calculator port for iPhone

Calculators were the original handheld computers, but unlike the whole PDA fad, they've had amazing staying power through their 40-year history -- to this day, buttoned-up dudes crunching numbers at wooden desks have HP 12Cs next to them not for the kitschy retro street cred, but because they're functional, familiar, and do exactly what they're expected to do. Thing is, even purpose-suited perfection can only carry a product for so many years; eventually, raw technology and a new generation of users with different expectations are going to conspire to tear down the status quo. HP was the first giant to recognize that it might be a good idea to have virtual versions of its products available for a more modern medium, porting the 12C and 15C to the iPhone; now, TI -- HP's archrival in the calculator business for decades -- is doing the same by offering its BAII Plus as a $14.99 download from the App Store. That's exactly the same price as the 12C, so come on, you HP and TI diehards -- duke it out and tell us which brand makes the better adding machine once and for all, won't you?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

TI joins HP, creates official business calculator port for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Launches New Environmental Publicity Initiative

BusinessWeek reports that Apple has launched an expanded environmental section of its website to offer extensive information on the company's green initiatives and provide a closer look at the environmental impact of its products over their complete ...

AT&T iPhone MMS Arrives Today — Here’s a Walkthrough!

Today’s the day everyone on AT&T has been waiting for — MMS lands now. Well, now-ish, because AT&T is doing a rolling roll-out, and we’ll see how the network holds up.

AT&T MMS Update: We know you’ve been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready to download through iTunes. We’ll provide the steps and all of the details you need right here at that time.

If you’re waiting for MMS to come your way — whether to use or just to check off your AT&T bucket list — check out our MMS for iPhone walkthrough after the break so you’re ready when yours lights up. And when it does light up, let us know when and where in the comments so we can cheer (and those nearby can lose their minds with anticipointment!)

iPhone 3.0/3.1 MMS Walkthrough

Messages is the new SMS, and is renamed to signify the addition of MMS (multi-media messaging service). It allows, in the case of the new iPhone OS 3.0 software, for you to receive, vCards (contacts), audio, location, and — for iPhone 3GS only — video to be sent using the Messages interface to any other smartphone or feature-phone that supports MMS and those file types.

Once you receive an MMS, you can tap the icon in the message bubble to get a better look at it. In the case of a contact, you’ll see a page similar to what you get when you call up a contact in Phone, except at the very bottom you’ll have extra, saving and sharing related options that we’ll cover later in the Phone app section.

Location opens in Google Maps as you’d expect, audio and video in iPod, and images pop up full screen where you can tap the share icon to Save Image — but strangely not re-share it…

When it comes to sending MMS, only picture sending can be initiated from within the Messages app itself. Everything else starts a “share” function from another app (i.e. Share Contact is in Contacts, Share Location is in Google Maps, Share Audio is in Voice Recorder, etc.)

There are two ways to insert a picture into MMS. The first is to tap the camera icon, bottom right. A requester will ask if you want to Take Photo or Choose Existing. Take Photo will call up an embedded version of the Camera app. Frame your picture, tap the camera icon, look at the preview and either hit Retake to try again or Use to insert the picture into your MMS window. (If you want to erase it later, just backspace over it like you would a text character you want to delete)

Choose Existing will call up an image picker (like the Photo App). Pick an Album, pick a picture, and tap Choose to confirm.

The second way to insert a picture into MMS is to paste it…

The new, system-wide Cut, Copy, and Paste service has also been introduced into Messages. It works in a similar way to the implementation in the Notes app, and we’ll cover it more fully there. One difference is that double tapping a previous SMS will give you the Copy popup allowing you to duplicate the entire contents of the SMS to the clipboard. Tapping on an empty entry box will launch the Paste popup, so you can stick the contents back down in an message of your own. If the entry box already contains text, double tapping will select the closest word, and double tapping an holding will select the closet word and popup the loupe.

Again, we’ll cover this more fully in the section for the Notes app.

Messages also now includes line-item deletion and forwarding. Tap the Edit button at the top right, select the messages you want — as many of them as you want — and then hit the red Delete button at the bottom, or the blue Forward button beside it. Edit still isn’t the most elegant name for the combination of deletion and forwarding, mind you, but the functionality is consistent with the Mass Edit feature introduced for Mail in iPhone 2.0.

Lastly, Apple has also answered the call for pervasive landscape-style keyboards, and Messages is one of the text-entry apps that received it. For those who want a Cadillac-wide typing experience, enjoy!

(Note to Apple: a way to “lock” the iPhone in portrait or landscape mode would be appreciated, especially when typing while reclining and every little angle change sends the UI spinning.)

Still no MMS for AT&T users. That’s being released on September 25 (though whether it will require an iPhone 3.1.1 update, or just a new carrier file is unknown).

With iPhone 3.1 you can tap the action button at bottom, left to save them to the camera roll, just like you could previously do with pictures under iPhone 3.0.

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

AT&T iPhone MMS Arrives Today — Here’s a Walkthrough!

NetNewsWire 2.0 for iPhone Brings Google Reader Sync

NetNewsWire [Free with ads - iTunes link] and NetNewsWire Premium [$1.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone, the mobile version of NetNewsWire for Mac and FeedDemon for Windows, have just hit 2.0 and brings a lot of compelling features to the table — especially for RSS geeks:

• Google Reader sync including Starred items synchronization
• Twitter integration – send articles as tweets
• Instapaper integration
• Latest News view –
• New article view
• New up and down arrows for navigating through news list
• Title and date of most recent item on Feeds screen.
• Excerpts and dates on news item lists
• Send articles via email without leaving NetNewsWire

It’s enough that I’m finally going to go all in on Google Reader and NNW 2.0 (at least for the next week — we’ll see if it sticks).

Screens after the break. If you give NetNewsWire 2.0 a go as well, let us know what you think.

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

NetNewsWire 2.0 for iPhone Brings Google Reader Sync