Google Releases Free Turn-by-Turn GPS App for Andriod; Working with Apple to Bring it to the iPhone

What Google Navigation Means for iPhone Maps App, and for Turn-by-Turn Competitors

So while the dust is by no means settling following Google’s bombshell announcement of their free Google Maps Navigation app for Android 2.0, it’s thinning enough that we can start to survey the landscape again. In terms of the iPhone, Google is saying they’re working with Apple to add the same or similar navigation features to [...]

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What Google Navigation Means for iPhone Maps App, and for Turn-by-Turn Competitors

Apple Seeds Mac OS X 10.6.2 Build 10C535 to Developers

Apple today seeded Build 10C535 of Mac OS X 10.6.2 to developers. The release comes one week after the previous build was pushed to the developer community for testing.

The new 10C535 build reportedly focuses on graphics drivers, trac...

iPhone apps and tips for snowed-in TUAW readers

Filed under: Humor, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

An IM conversation with Mike R. got me thinking about what iPhone apps could be useful when you're snowed in. Here's my list, and be sure to use the comments section below to leave your ideas.

You're going to be getting a little cabin fever after being stuck in the house a few days, so why not go insane a bit faster? There are a number of snow globe apps for iPhone in the App Store [iTunes Link], so you can shake them up and watch those little virtual snowflakes falling, all while laughing nervously and sharpening that butcher knife.

On a much more positive, happy-thoughts note, how about thinking about where you can go skiing or snowboarding when the roads are cleared and you can actually get the car out of the garage? The first thing you'll want to know are the snow depths at all of your favorite resorts. The US$1.99 Snow Reports [iTunes Link] does exactly that for over 2,000 resorts worldwide. Ski Lodge - Snow Reports [US$4.99, iTunes Link] is similar, but also provides detailed trail maps, directions to the nearest resort, and more.

When you're on the mountain and riding your board, it's always fun to use iTrailMap 3D [US$4.99, iTunes Link] to trace your runs via GPS on a map, then send the map to those obnoxious virtual coworkers who keep sending you pictures of the palm trees swaying outside their San Diego offices.

Continue reading iPhone apps and tips for snowed-in TUAW readers

iPhone apps and tips for snowed-in TUAW readers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone apps and tips for snowed-in TUAW readers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple iPhone closing in on BlackBerry market share

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple, iPhone

Paul Carton, Director of Research at ChangeWave Research, reported yesterday at investorplace.com that Apple iPhone is gaining steadily on BlackBerry's market share, a great feat considering BlackBerry's entrenched position in the business sector. iPhone market share is now a heady 30%, still behind BlackBerry's 40%, but RIM products are not gaining new users at nearly the same rate. As for Palm? Well, the Pre seems to have leveled out the free fall, but there's nothing terribly encouraging about the data. My guess is they are still pining for those halcyon days of 2006 when Palm was king.



The smartphone market itself is rising; according to Mr. Carton's research, a full 39% of consumers now own some kind of smartphone. Compare that with last summer, when the smartphone market was just cracking 25%.



The good news for Apple is that RIM's stranglehold on the smartphone market appears to be loosening, and with so many consumers still to reach, Apple has the momentum. CNNMoney.com characterized Apple's market gains as putting Apple within "striking distance" of BlackBerry. What's driving the momentum? Customer satisfaction. Among those who plan to buy a smartphone within the next 90 days, 36% plan to buy an iPhone. And among current users, fully 73% of them are satisfied with the device, compared with only 43% of BlackBerry users.



Mr. Carton notes that BlackBerry is planning product launches this year, and Apple has already released the 3GS. If Apple holds true to its history, we won't see a significant upgrade to the phone until next June. Either way, Apple has carved itself out quite a niche and the iPhone can no longer be dismissed as a toy to BlackBerry's business device.

Apple iPhone closing in on BlackBerry market share originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple iPhone closing in on BlackBerry market share originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ReelDirector beefs up iPhone 3GS’s editing capabilities

ReelDirector, an app for the iPhone 3GS, improves the device's editing capabilities by allowing for transitions and text overlays.

The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, App Review

I won't make any excuses, and I won't beat around the bush: I'm addicted to Skee-Ball [iTunes link], at least to the very-entertaining iPhone version from Freeverse. In fact, the reason I haven't written about it until now is that every time I get ready, I decide a little more "research" is in order, and I find myself on another Skee-bender. It's getting ridiculous, annoying my friends and upsetting my home life. I'd like to say, "I can stop whenever I want to," but I keep coming back to the warm glow of the LED scoreboard and the comforting sounds of wooden balls racking up just for me.

What makes Skee-Ball so entertaining for me is the realism of the gameplay. It sends me right back to my childhood; carnivals, arcades and Chuck E. Cheese's. The physics of the game are bafflingly realistic, with each roll responding to every nuance of the stroke or swing that launches it. Velocity, top and side-spin, friction... even the effects of bouncing off of the sides of the ramp or the edges of the cups feels natural. The prizes you can purchase with the tickets are reminiscent of the "big scores" of my youth: vampire fangs, bubble gum, fake moustaches, and glitter pencils. There's the occasional oddball prize, too (a banana, a robotic dog, a duck), presumably to remind you that it is, after all, just a game.

Continue reading The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone

The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The dark side of Skee-Ball for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Multi-Touch Magic Mouse Now Shipping

Several MacRumors readers have reported receiving shipping notices from Apple indicating that their Magic Mouse orders have been shipped. At its introduction, Apple announced that while the new multi-touch Magic Mouse is bundled with Apple's new iMa...

Be a Dummy: Fake iPhones for $20 each?

File this under strange: a website called iPhonedummy.net is selling extremely realistic looking but non-functional iPhone dummies - for $20 each. Yes, take your time, read that again. As incredibly useless as that sounds, there are a lot of practical uses for this thing. Of course, many of the uses are evil/deceptive, but we’ll ignore [...]

iPhone app claims 95% piracy rate

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Hacks, Apple, Developer, iPhone, App Store

With all of the success stories coming out of the App Store, it's been pretty easy to forget the problem of piracy for most developers. Not so for Fishlabs, who've posted over on the Touch Arcade forums that their latest game, Rally Master Pro 3D, is experiencing a 95% piracy rate. You read that right: supposedly 95% of the people playing the game on the iPhone haven't paid for it.

There's probably a multitude of reasons why that is -- the app is $7 with no trial version, it's not a super-popular app quite yet (so one pirated copy on a popular message board is probably traveling farther than the copies coming off of the official App Store), and there are probably at least a few other factors in the mix that we don't know yet. Still, 95% is obviously pretty darn high for a platform that's supposed to only deliver software through Apple's official store.

Now, fortunately Fishlabs doesn't sound litigious -- they're not pulling the old "piracy = lost sales" fallacy that many companies in this situation would do. They are lowering the price on the app -- they expected it to be worth more, but apparently their consumer base seems to disagree. They tell Mobile Entertainment that they'd entertain the idea of providing content only through Apple's in-app purchasing service (presumably, that would prevent piracy by locking down the extra content), but they also say that's a gamble they've tried and missed on other platforms before.

Of course, it'll take more than one post on one message board to make hay out of the problem of app piracy -- it definitely happens, but on the other hand, there certainly are apps selling well, and there are also apps not selling well that don't have this level of piracy going on. Apple already has lots of authentication and validation processes in place, but if app piracy is this big a problem for everyone, they may need to look at more.

iPhone app claims 95% piracy rate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iPhone app claims 95% piracy rate originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GeoMaster makes geography fun - yes, really

Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch

The French developers at Visuamobile make exceptionally well-designed apps. They sent me a promo code for GeoMaster [iTunes Link], and I wondered aloud how they would make geography attractive, both visually and as a game. Guess what? GeoMaster is pretty fun. If you know absolutely nothing about geography, then OK, this is like playing a strange guessing game. But I have to say it starts easily enough, so much so that you may be surprised what you DO know.

The game play is simple: countries, states or capitals appear on the screen, and you must point as close to them as possible on a map within a time limit. You can choose from US cities or states, countries by continent, world capitals or French departments. In the case of cities, accuracy earns extra points.

That's really about it, other than some high scores and an excellent amount of finish. This would make a good learning tool, I think, but it's also a fun casual game. Currently going for US$1.99 on the App Store, this is a good buy for parents and geography nerds, or anyone tired of the traditional puzzle games littering the space. Check out the gallery for shots of the game in action.

Continue reading GeoMaster makes geography fun - yes, really

GeoMaster makes geography fun - yes, really originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

GeoMaster makes geography fun - yes, really originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Syncing iPhone and iPod Touch With Linux Now Possible

Giant iPhone wedding cake threatens to devour us all

Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, iPhone

Or maybe it was devoured first? Jerry Brito emailed a link to his wedding cake photos, made by the good folks at Charm City Cakes. It's an astoundingly accurate rendering of an iPhone save one thing our own Dave Caolo spotted: four bars on AT&T? Wishful thinking, although in the context of a wedding cake, maybe it's a good signal.

This is neither the first nor the last cake done as Apple gear, although it is certainly one of the best. But Charm City does nothing halfway, which you know if you've ever seen the show 'Ace of Cakes' on Food Network.

Congratulations to Jerry and his wife!

Giant iPhone wedding cake threatens to devour us all originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Giant iPhone wedding cake threatens to devour us all originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uh oh! Google releasing free turn by turn GPS app for Android

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store

Just when you thought it was safe to buy a nav app for the iPhone, Google goes and announces a free app for Android, and says it's going to be available for the iPhone if Apple will let it into the App Store.

The app, called Google Maps Navigation, will ship with phones running the Android OS 2.0 and includes search by voice, search for points of interest by voice while in route, satellite and street view, and support for a hardware dock for 'certain devices.'

This won't be great news for TomTom, Navigon, or any of the rest. Google says the app is U.S. only for now, and will be seen first on the Verizon Droid which will appear in November.

Talk about disruption! With the FCC watching it will be most interesting to see if Apple allows the app onto the iPhone and, whether yes or no, the effect on Android sales.

I can't wait for all the fur to fly. You can watch a video of the app in action in this YouTube clip. Admit it. You want this!

Uh oh! Google releasing free turn by turn GPS app for Android originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Uh oh! Google releasing free turn by turn GPS app for Android originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Babelshot makes your iPhone’s camera a translator

New software uses your iPhone's camera and OCR technology to translate the text you photograph.

No TomTom Car Kit Compatibility for iPod Touch? [Updated]

AppleInsider has received word from TomTom that the company's iPhone Car Kit, just now starting to become available, will not be compatible with the iPod touch or first-generation iPhone. There is some uncertainty, however, over the exact status of ...

No TomTom Car Kit Compatibility for iPod Touch?

AppleInsider has received word from TomTom that the company's iPhone Car Kit, just now starting to become available, will not be compatible with the iPod touch or first-generation iPhone. There is some uncertainty, however, over the exact status of ...

Review: FIFA 10 for iPhone

This soccer game offers engrossing competition and graphics that far out-pace what we've seen on the iPhone and iPod touch. Now if only Electronic Arts could do something about FIFA 10's wonky artificial intelligence.

Ripdev - Popular Jailbreak Software Developer Shuts Down

Polynx - Unique Puzzle App for iPhone and iTouch

Polynx™ is a highly-addicting and unique number puzzle game that challenges the player to exercise their problem solving skills. In this sophisticated connect-the-dots type number game, the player is asked to connect numbered pieces in a way that reaches the desired solution. For only $0.99 you get the following features:   Multiple ...