TomTom Version 1.2 Released - Includes Support For iPod Touch and First Gen iPhones

Google revamps mobile Google News format

Filed under: Internet, iPhone, iPod touch

Like most "mobile versions" of websites, Google News was simplified for use on devices featuring what Steve Jobs once called "the baby Internet." Sadly, this simplified version also showed up by default on the iPhone, leading to an experience that was, to put it charitably, subpar.

That's all changed now that Google has redesigned the mobile version of Google News for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre users. The new mobile version is far more feature-rich than the old one and is more consistent in its appearance (i.e., it's almost indistinguishable from the desktop version) compared to the old "mobile-optimized" Google News.

It also includes a handy "Jump to" link which brings up a window that allows you to skip to the news section of your choice, saving your thumbs from severe scroll fatigue.

There's no need to download anything. Simply go to Google News on your iPhone and check out the changes.

[Via MacRumors]

Google revamps mobile Google News format originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google revamps mobile Google News format originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom delivers promised iPhone update

Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store

TUAW told you it was coming, and it has arrived. TomTom has updated its U.S. GPS navigation app [US$99.99, iTunes link] and added text-to-speech, advanced lane guidance, and a 'help me' feature for use in emergencies.

TomTom has been a little late to the text-to-speech party, with most competitors already offering this important function. Magellan has now jumped into the game with a very nice nav app as well, and at an introductory price that undercuts the TomTom app by twenty bucks.

All of the major navigation apps for the iPhone are quickly approaching feature parity. At this point, your main decision is whether you want the data streamed to your phone (as the AT&T app does), or have maps and data built into the app (like TomTom, Navigon, Magellan and some others).

Looming over whatever decision you make is trying to figure out if Apple will ever allow the Google turn-by-turn navigation app into the app store. It's going to be free, and Google says it wants the app to be on the iPhone. Of course things haven't been going swimmingly between Google and Apple of late (Google Voice, Android competition), so it's just a guess as to how that will all turn out.

If you need a navigation app in order to get to Grandma's house for the holidays, it's probably a good time to buy one. However, If you're willing to wait for the possibility of Google's free turn-by-turn nav app making it to the iPhone, you might be rewarded for your patience.

TomTom delivers promised iPhone update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TomTom delivers promised iPhone update originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Opera Mobile 10 Beta for Windows Mobile vs. iPhone 3G Safari — Browser Battle

Our good friend Phil over at sibling site WMExperts got his geeky hands on Opera Mobile 10 beta for Windows Mobile and did what any self-respecting editor would do — took it one on one with the great one — Safari. Well, technically Safari running on last year’s slower hardware, the iPhone 3G (as opposed to the much faster iPhone 3GS), but it’s not a final build of Opera either. The results?

Opera Mobile 10 beta isn’t quite as good as Safari on iPhone 3G, but it’s getting there. Hit the link above to see Phil’s video, then come on back here and let us know what you think.

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

Opera Mobile 10 Beta for Windows Mobile vs. iPhone 3G Safari — Browser Battle

Review: Mini Golf Wacky Worlds for iPhone

This fun miniature golf game lives up to its wacky moniker. More important, with five courses and three modes of play to chose from, there's plenty of replay value to be found.

First Look: Voices for iPhone

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look, App Review

Novelty and social applications are a big hit on the iPhone. A new one from the folks of Taptivate is sure to be a big hit when it is released in the near future. Voices for iPhone is touted as an "audio recorder with a twist" and even a "social voicemail" utility.

With Voices [iTunes Link], you're given tools to manipulate your own voice in many fun and odd ways. Whether you'd like to transform into Darth Vader or a chipmunk, you're good to go with Voices. Sporting a unique and very pretty user interface, the application boasts a lot of cool extras sure to show you how hard the developers have worked on it.

The app has a home screen-like selection window where you can choose the way in which you want your voice manipulated. A stack of your recordings can also be accessed with just a tap.

After initially seeing this app when it was in early beta, it has come a long way since then. The app is being published by Tap Tap Tap and is available for only 99 cents. Also, to celebrate the release, MacHeist is offering a special "Tweetblast" deal, giving away a free copy of Voice Candy for Mac to people who help spread the word on Twitter.

Here's some shots of Voices in action:

First Look: Voices for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First Look: Voices for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone to drive mobile game adoption

Apple will drive the game market with the iPhone, according to a survey of 8,000 gamers in North America, Europe and Australia.

Building a great iPhone app

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch

CIO.com has posted an article (single-page reprint here) covering one company's foray into the app development scene. Recently, clothing retailer Gap held an app development contest. The goal was to develop the "best" app to represent the retailer on the iPhone or iPod touch. Gap partnered with Mobclix, the mobile ad exchange operator (more here), to come up with the contest for the best Gap-branded iPhone app.

The contest ran for three months and had 100,000 submissions. While the winning entry isn't available for download on the App Store yet, and Gap doesn't currently have a release plan, CIO.com has a list of 5 attributes that contribute to a quality iPhone app. One of my personal favorites is the consideration for how far to stray from Apple's UI guidelines. On the one hand you have an easy-to-use app that everyone can understand, but on the other hand you have to consider how "similar" you want to be to everyone else.

I won't spoil the fun and tell you all of the different attributes, but if you want to check out the winning app, you can see the submission video in the second half of this post.

[via Macworld]

Continue reading Building a great iPhone app

Building a great iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Building a great iPhone app originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iMT620 iPhone stereo review

We've been playing with the Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iMT620 for a few days now, and before you think "man, not another iPhone stereo dock," look again. It was (mostly) love at first sight when we spotted this mini boombox -- sharp corners and minimalism are what Altec Lansing does best these days, and the hint of retro isn't hurting anyone, either. Like the iMT620's predecessors, the inMotion series still bears the portability hallmark in the form of a built-in battery (up to five hours for this model), and now with the addition of a multifunctional handle as well. But is it really worth the $149 tag? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iMT620 iPhone stereo review

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

Altec Lansing inMotion Classic iMT620 iPhone stereo review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Photo geotagging apps for iPhone

Geotagging -- adding data to a photo that reveals the location it was taken -- brings a new dimension to enjoying and sharing photography. Several apps let you start tagging your photos with GPS data. We'll help you find the one that's right for your needs.

Buyer’s Guide: 33 things you don’t need if you have an iPhone

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, iPhone, Holidays, iPod touch

Every time I walk through Warehouse Stationery (New Zealand's equivalent to Office Depot) or Dick Smith's Electronics (pretty much Best Buy), I'm struck by how probably half the products in each store are pretty much useless to me since I've got an iPhone.

Thanks to the apps that come pre-packaged with the iPhone and the more than 100,000 third-party offerings now available in the iTunes Store, the iPhone has gained functionality that might have seemed hard to fathom under three years ago when Steve Jobs first announced the device.

"A widescreen iPod with touch controls... a revolutionary mobile phone... a breakthrough internet communications device... these are not three separate devices. This is one device." So Steve Jobs told us all back at Macworld Expo 2007. But since then, the iPhone has grown to be much more than just those three concepts.

What follows is a sort of anti-buyer's guide, a list of products and devices that you may never need or even want to buy again (or receive as a gift) if you have an iPhone. Some of these are certainly open for debate, but more than a few of them are products that, for all intents and purposes, are completely unnecessary if you have an iPhone. (Items in bold also apply to the iPod touch).

Continue reading Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone

Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Buyer's Guide: 33 things you don't need if you have an iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T Lawsuit: Court Rules Verizon Ads May Continue, AT&T Launches Counter Ad Campaign

Google Previews Chrome OS, Scheduled for Release in Late 2010

Google today held a preview event for Chrome OS, the company's forthcoming browser-based operating system scheduled to launch initially on netbooks in late 2010. Among the major announcements was that, like Google's Chrome browser, Chrome OS...

Google Phone Coming - How Will This Affect Market Dynamics

iPhone App WorkSnug Allows Anyone To Find a Wifi Hotspot with their iPhone

This may be one of the best free apps that is available on the iPhone. We have all been in strange cities and have had to hunt down wifi spots in order to send out a quick email or send off a report. It is almost embarrassing asking people where to go if you don’t [...]

iPhone Gets Its Own Version of DJ Hero

The much anticipated release of the Amidio Touch DJ application has finally been approved by Apple for sale in the App Store and it is sure to be a top seller in no time at all. The app enables users to mix two tracks without ever hearing one second of the song and has some [...]

Apple Researching Methods for ‘Pushing’ User Interfaces to Accessories from Media Devices

In a patent application filed in May 2008 and published today, Apple discloses that it has been researching methods to allow media devices such as the iPod to "push" their graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to accessory devices for the ...

MS software architect: Apps don’t make the phone

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Desktops, Hardware, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store

This sounds an awful lot like sour grapes to me: Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software engineer, told a Professional Developers' Conference earlier this week that it wasn't the apps that would make or break the smartphone platforms. Of course, that's what most press and blog outlets seem to be focusing on (maybe because we all already know what the hardware is like -- apps change every day if not every minute, and the hardware only changes occasionally), but Ozzie says customers won't buy a phone for the apps. The biggest apps, he says, will eventually be available on every platform. To put it in as few words as possible, you'll be able to tweet from everything in the future.

And he's got part of a good point there: it's true, the major functionality of "killer apps" will be available across platforms. But Ozzie forgets (or is just ignoring) that that's already the case on desktops. While yes, you could claim that porting to the various smartphones is easier than porting to the various PC platforms, that doesn't avoid the fact that I can tweet, IM, email, browse, edit photos and movies, and do whatever else I want on both platforms as well. And for some reason (ahem, the hardware and the way both software and hardware are designed), I'd rather do them on the Mac. People love their iPhones not just for the apps but for the way it fits in their hand, and how just plain slick it is.

That's not to say that the smartphone platform war is over -- no way, it's only beginning, and we consumers will take innovative ideas wherever we can get them. But Ozzie saying the apps don't count (and echoing his fellow Microsofters in trying to separate Apple from their software strategy) seems to mean that even he thinks he's already lost that race -- they certainly do play a large part in which platform consumers eventually choose.

MS software architect: Apps don't make the phone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MS software architect: Apps don't make the phone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T strikes back at Verizon in new ad

AT&T fires back at Verizon in a new ad claiming it has a better 3G experience. Of course you know, this means war.

AT&T Faces Initial Setback in Verizon Ad Spat, Rolls Out Response Ad

The Associated Press reports that a judge has refused to grant AT&T's request for a temporary restraining order forcing Verizon to halt its commercials comparing the two companies' wireless network coverage.

AT&T filed the lawsuit in ...