Best of Smartphone Experts, 6 Dec 2009

HTC Hero Running Android 2.1 Motorola Cliq Gets Software Update for Battery Life HTC’s 2010 Lineup Revealed	BlackBerry Storm2 for Enterprise and Business: a Review Official OS Updates for Tour 9630, 880, 8820, 8100 CrackBerry Holiday Gift Guides: Traveler, Mom and Dad, Students, and Music Lovers.
Nokia’s Master Plan for 2010 Symbian^3 Screenshots Why Fewer Nokia Devices in 2010 is a Good Thing	webOS 1.3.2 Released for Pixi How to Get Visual Voicemail on Pre and Pixi webOS 1.3.5 to fix app limit
Top 5 iPhone Accessories Reading Between the Lines on the Latest Droid Commercial Apple SVP Phil Schiller’s Favorite iPhone Apps	Video review of the new Bing for Windows Mobile. Google Maps updated, and then updated again. Opera Mobile 10 beta 2 is released.

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Best of Smartphone Experts, 6 Dec 2009

Relax Japanese-style with Yoritsuki

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

Here's an app I picked up early last week that's earned a permanent home on my iPhone. Yoritsuki* by HYBRIDWORKS places you in a (virtual) Japanese inn complete with a beautiful view.

More of a toy than a game, Yoritsuki lets you customize the scene's appearance and behavior. The main screen depicts the perspective of someone sitting on tatami mats and gazing upon a wooded pond through shoji (sliding doors). The doors are customizable: Choose from 15 designs, slide them open and closed or eliminate them entirely.

The time of day depicted depends on your iPod/iPhone's clock, and the season is determined by the date. Of course, you can opt to show winter, spring, summer or fall at any time. Birds fly by and chip, leaves fall in autumn and snow in the winter while the sound of rushing water is ever present. At night, fireflies (or "lightning bugs" as we called them in Scranton) fly past.

OK, Yoritsuki isn't all form; there's some function, too. With a tap, the mats and doors disappeaer leaving you with the nature scene and a 24-hour clock. Once you've come to appreciate the app as I have, pick up the additional goodies, like gorgeous Mac desktop icons and wallpaper for your Mac and iPhone/iPod touch.

Yoritsuki costs US$1.99 and is available now [iTunes link].

*Note: "Yoritsuki" is the name of a fictional inn.

Relax Japanese-style with Yoritsuki originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Relax Japanese-style with Yoritsuki originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has Apple Irreversibly Revolutionized The Mobile Phone Market?

2222 short stories in your pocket with the Colossal Short Story Collection

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

I've done quite a bit of testing of eBooks, and quite honestly I've had a problem with the concept of reading a whole book on an iPod touch or iPhone. At a normal font size, an eBook can display about 75 words on a single screen. This requires even a rather short book to be hundreds and hundreds of screenfuls. My well worn copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer comes in at 218 pages which in the app Classics2Go [iTunes Link] translates to 813 screens of iPhone/iPod touch text. I know that this isn't a problem for a great number of people, but I haven't finished a book yet. There is too much flipping, and no matter how pretty the presentation, it just doesn't feel right to me. Your personal preferences may vary, of course.

The Colossal Short Story Collection app, currently under Apple review, solved my problem almost entirely. Contained in the app are over 2222 short stories, all in the public domain, that can be read in 15-20 minutes each. The vastness of the collection assures that you'll always find something that you want to read by authors ranging from Hans Christian Anderson to W.B. Yeats. An average story is around 30 screens. If light entertaining/distracting games can be referred to as casual gaming, this would be an app for casual reading.

I found that reading short stories on an iPhone/iPod touch is very enjoyable and not once did I get frustrated by the page size and number of pages/screens. Nothing got in the way of the story. Reading short stories seems like the perfect use of an eBook. Everything is in byte-sized pieces and I never had to make the considerable commitment that comes with starting an 800 page novel.

Continue reading 2222 short stories in your pocket with the Colossal Short Story Collection

2222 short stories in your pocket with the Colossal Short Story Collection originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

2222 short stories in your pocket with the Colossal Short Story Collection originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Acquires Lala - Online Music Streaming Service

AT&T Takes Aim at Verizons Slower 3G Speeds in Latest TV Spot

This is sure getting entertaining to watch AT&T and Verizon duke it out commercial after commercial. Today we have the latest AT&T commercial to show you and this one is all about download speed. It seems AT&T has given up on the fact that Verizon has covers more of the U.S. in terms of 3G and is now concentrating on the claim they have the faster 3G speeds.

We’ve said it before and we will say it again, AT&T just does not seem to get it and they are obviously ignoring most of your comments as a significant amount of our readers feel they should be spending all of these advertising dollars on some more 3G towers…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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

AT&T Takes Aim at Verizons Slower 3G Speeds in Latest TV Spot

Apple SVP Phil Schiller’s Favorite iPhone Apps

Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing was asked what his favorite iPhone Apps were, and here’s what he said:

• Shazam [Free - iTunes link] “There’s just something so amazing about being anywhere, and some music starts playing and you just hold up your phone and can find out what it is,” Mr. Schiller said. “You never again have to say ‘That’s a great song! Who is it by?”
• CNN News [$1.99 - iTunes link]: “It’s really cool having the news in your pocket.”
• Facebook [Free - iTunes link]
• MLB.com at Bat 2009 [Currently free - iTunes link]
• NBA Game Time 2009 [$9.99 - iTunes link]
• ESPN ScoreCenter [Free - iTunes link]
• Eliminate Pro [Free - iTunes link]
• geoDefense [$1.99 - iTunes link]
• Best Camera [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Some great apps, if no huge surprises.

[New York Times via Gartenberg]

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

Apple SVP Phil Schiller’s Favorite iPhone Apps

Review: Pantech Reveal mobile phone

The Pantech Reveal is a light and spry phone, but its multimedia capabilities are substandard.