5 apps for Thanksgiving (and not a turkey in the bunch!)

Filed under: Software, iPhone, Holidays, iPod touch

Here in the USA we're preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving. The typical celebration includes a turkey dinner, family and football on television (and perhaps a drunken uncle or two). Before you set up the folding card table for the kids, check out these iPhone/iPod touch apps meant to make the day more enjoyable.

Thanksgiving Jokes

Serving the "perfect" dinner while dealing with annoying relatives is stressful, so cut the tension with corny jokes, courtesy of Thanksgiving Jokes [iTunes link]. This free app is based on Dustin Kirk's Stacks platform, which puts flash cards on your iPhone or iPod touch. There's a large variety of topics available from math to trivia: nearly 13,000 in total. Dustin breaks from academia with Thanksgiving Jokes and focuses on groan-inducing one-liners. And you thought the turkey was dry.

Turkey Recipes

In my day, recipes were taped to cabinet doors. Today there's cooking software and even a dedicated television network. iPhone users can download Turkey Recipes [iTunes link] for $0.99 and pick from 27 recipes. Once you've selected the one you like (or added your own), you're a click away from generating a shopping list. Back in the kitchen, flick through the easy-to-read instructions (just wipe your hands first) and compare your finished product to the included photo. Just don't be too hard on yourself.

Continue reading 5 apps for Thanksgiving (and not a turkey in the bunch!)

5 apps for Thanksgiving (and not a turkey in the bunch!) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

5 apps for Thanksgiving (and not a turkey in the bunch!) originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Wars iPhone game: More fun than bagging womp rats

Star Wars: Trench Run re-creates the climactic dogfight from the classic sci-fi film, complete with authentic sound effects, music, and scenes from the movie.

Star Wars: Trench Run for iPhone Now in App Store

The force is strong with Star Wars: Trench Run [$4.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch, as it’s just hit the iTunes App Store.

Features include Force Powers, 3D trench flying, X-Wing style, easter eggs (you tease!), and did we say 3D Death Star trench flying?

If this is the iPhone Star Wars game you’ve been looking for, go get it and tell us what you think!

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

Star Wars: Trench Run for iPhone Now in App Store

FINALLY: Ravensword for iPhone Released!

For those of us looking for that pinnacle action RPG for the iPhone, Ravensword: The Fallen King [$6.99 - iTunes]has been released. This game looks absolutely fantastic! I have only played this game for a few minutes (enough to leave the inn and wonder the town. I will have a more thorough update later) but the controls are great and there are lots of options to tweak the performance based on your hardware.

The character and environment detail is some of the best I have seen on the iPhone. The game is similar to other games such as Oblivion in this genre. There are NPCs to interact with and several weapons and items to use. There has not been a game quite like this so far on the iPhone, so it will be exciting to see its reception in the App Store. I for one, know what I will be playing this weekend!

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

FINALLY: Ravensword for iPhone Released!

‘The Truth Hurts’: Verizon Zings AT&T in Advertising Spat

Earlier this month, AT&T filed suit against rival Verizon over a series of Verizon commercials attacking AT&T's wireless network, claiming that the ads were "blatantly false and misleading".

Late yesterday, Engadget reported that Veriz...

Verizon to AT&T- ‘The Truth Hurts’

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

Verizon isn't fazed by the AT&T legal claims that the Verizon ads attacking poor coverage are false and misleading. Our sister site Engadget broke the story of the Verizon response to the suit and you can read the it here.

Verizon isn't pulling any punches and says "AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon's "There's A Map For That" advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon's ads are true and the truth hurts."

Then to drive home the point:

"In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon's side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T's confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly."

Ouch!

This latest salvo follows AT&T sending a message to customers complaining about the Verizon ads and telling customers their coverage is great, that they sell more smartphones than Verizon and that the AT&T 3G network is faster. So there.

Well AT&T, your move. It's great for the lawyers, and actually, we admit we just love the spectacle.

Verizon to AT&T- 'The Truth Hurts' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Verizon to AT&T- 'The Truth Hurts' originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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webOS 1.3.1 Did NOT Restore iTunes Sync, but is That the Least of Palm’s Worries?

Sure, okay, since Palm has been faking iPod status to provide iTunes sync for a while now, and Apple has been updating iTunes to stop them every chance they get, when a new version of Palm’s webOS comes out and it DOES NOT re-enable that sync, it’s news. Right?

So, to be clear, neither the newly introduced Palm Pixi candybar or the just-updated Palm Pre can sync with iTunes 9.0.2 (though older versions of iTunes 9 might still work).

Meanwhile, PreCentral.net’s own Derek Kessler has a <a href="http://www.precentral.net/editorial-why-im-palm-fan-and-not-fanatic up covering why iTunes sync is pretty much the last thing Palm should be worried about right now, given how much work they still have to do in other areas of webOS and their devices:

Here’s the problem: the standout part of the Pre is the webOS operating system, and even that has some glaring shortcomings. But I’ll start with the hardware, which simply put is unacceptably inferior.

He quite rightly rails against the lack of a native SDK, something iPhone users suffered through for a year. Of course, this gets the iPhone part of the blame:

But I’m afraid that Apple has also changed the mobile computing space for the worse on the features front. Apple made it acceptable to launch a phone without all the standard phone features intact.

Derek excuses Apple somewhat, the iPhone being their first foray into the smartphone space. He’s not as forgiving with Palm, who’ve had decades of Pilot and Treo experience.

Given Palm’s financial position and the limits of all human resources, I’ll ask on their behalf what I asked on the iPhone’s in 2007 – what feature that was implemented would you have had them not implement, so they could have implemented something else instead? Would you have waited 2 years for cut and paste so you could have a great music app at launch?

Give the full rant a read and let us know what you think!

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

webOS 1.3.1 Did NOT Restore iTunes Sync, but is That the Least of Palm’s Worries?

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies Unleashed for iPhone

Call of Duty is a huge franchise, and what better way to expand that franchise then to unleash it, World of War style, on the iPhone and iPod touch — and add Zombies. Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies [$9.99 - iTunes link] contains only one map right now, “Nacht der Untoten” (Night of the undead) but allows 4 player multiplay via WiFi and over the internet, or 2 over Bluetooth. There are three control schemes, achievements, leader-boards, and the promise of in-app purchases (map expansions?) later.

So, Call of Duty fans and Zombie fanatics, how’re you liking your first iPhone experience?

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

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies Unleashed for iPhone

Walky robot understands iPhone gestures, football fanaticism (video)

Hey there sailor, we imagine you've been doing your fair share of button mashing what with a certain new bit of software out and about, but how would you like a whole new control paradigm? Taking up Steve Jobs' war on buttons, a group of grad students at Japan's Keio University have put together a comprehensive robot control interface that relies solely on finger swipes, taps, and presses. By employing the iPhone's built-in accelerometer and multitouch screen, the robot can replicate a humanistic walking motion, perform sidesteps and, when called upon, kick a football with gusto and presumed passion. Your destination is just past the break, where the video demo awaits.

[Via HDBlog.it]

Continue reading Walky robot understands iPhone gestures, football fanaticism (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Robots

Walky robot understands iPhone gestures, football fanaticism (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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