Two more operators put iPhone on sale in Singapore

Singaporean mobile operators MobileOne (M1) and StarHub will start selling Apple's iPhone on Dec. 9.

Dragon’s Lair Swashbuckles its Way to the iPhone!

Dragon’s Lair [$4.99- iTunes link], the original laser-disc (wikipedia it!), fully cell-animated arcade adventure from the legendary Don Bluth is officially, nostalgically available for the iPhone and iPod touch.

If you weren’t there to experience Dragon’s Lair’s emergence onto the arcade scene in the wayback days of yore, it’s hard to explain the impact it made. Suffice it to say, if the iPhone version captures that kind of magic, every 30+ year old will download it on sight, and many younger folks might just fall in love with it as well.

It’s not Pac-Man or Street Fighter; it’s a very different type of gaming experience, so if you’ve been waiting for it, let us know how it translates, and if you’re trying it for the first time, let us know what you think!

[TouchArcade via TUAW]

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

Dragon’s Lair Swashbuckles its Way to the iPhone!

Google Releases Chrome for Mac Beta

As anticipated, Google has finally released an official beta version of its Chrome browser for Mac. The initial beta version, termed Build 4.0.249.30, requires Mac OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard, and is only compatible with Intel-based Macs.<b...

iTunes Rewind: Apple Highlights the Best and Top-Selling Apps of 2009

Apple has once again released their iTunes Rewind listings, highlighting the best, and top-selling iPhone and iPod touch apps of 2009. In the US App Store, it breaks down as follows:

• Spider: the Secret of Bryce Manor [$2.99 - iTunes link] and Real Racing [$4.99 - iTunes link] lead best games
• Sims 3 [$6.99 - iTunes link] and the Oregon Trail [$4.99 - iTunes link] lead top selling games.
• ReelDirector [$4.99 - iTunes link] and Magellan RoadMate 2010 North America [$79.99 - iTunes link] lead best apps.
• MobileNavigator North America [$89.99 - iTunes link] and MLB.com At Bat [Currently free - iTunes link] lead top selling apps.

Apple also has lists up for best music [iTunes link], best movies [iTunes link], best TV shows [iTunes link], best audio books [iTunes link], and best podcasts [iTunes link].

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

iTunes Rewind: Apple Highlights the Best and Top-Selling Apps of 2009

Apple Removes 1000 Molinker iPhone Apps for Alleged Astroturfing of Fake Reviews

Apple, on orders from Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller, has removed all 1000 Molinker-developed iPhone apps from the App Store for allegedly astroturfing the iTunes review system with fake 5-star reviews. Says iPhone camera and video site, iPhoneography, which reprinted an email from a friend named SCW, and jointly followed up with Apple:

Please investigate for I have just looked at 44 of the reviewers who posted reviews for this Molinker Inc app “NightCam Pro” & EVERY Review except 2 of the 44+ are ALL FAKE 5 ★★★★★ reviews. (on my iPhone I could view more reviews but on my computer only 35 were visible & of the 35 visible 34 ARE fake). If you investigate ALL have ONLY reviewed ONLY Molinker apps. A little odd that 42 of 44 US reviews are poorly written & that all users have only written reviews for either All Molinker photography apps (giving 5 star reviews to 6-7 Molinker apps ONLY no other apps by any other developer) or the same 2 apps. 10 Reviewers who only reviewed NightCam Pro & ColorMagic (5 Stars), 24+ Reviewers have ONLY written reviews for 6-7 other Molinker photography apps (5 Stars) & 1-2 are real Reviews giving a 1 Star review

Schiller’s response:

“Yes, this developer’s apps have been removed from the App Store and their ratings no longer appear either.”

So, was this one of the rare positive uses of Apple’s rejection hammer? Any negatives that could come from it?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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

Apple Removes 1000 Molinker iPhone Apps for Alleged Astroturfing of Fake Reviews

News Publishers Launch Joint Venture Targeting Digital Content Distribution

Five major magazine publishers today announced the creation of a joint venture to develop standards for a digital content storefront and viewing on portable devices.

Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc. today j...

Review: Bookmarks for iPhone

This app for browsing the Open Directory Project -- the largest, most comprehensive, human-edited directory of the World Wide Web -- is more flawed than the project itself.

Apple Rounds Up ‘Top Sellers’ and ‘Best of’ iTunes 2009

Apple has featured a new list of songs, TV shows, movies, audiobooks, podcasts and apps in what is being called the iTunes Rewind 2009. This list is a compilation of what they consider the "Best of 2009" in each category as well as a list of...

Dragon’s Lair ships for iPhone and iPod touch

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

Guys, if there was any doubt that the iPhone is a serious application platform, just go ahead and put it to rest right now -- Dragon's Lair has officially been ported over. The Don Bluth-animated laserdisc game was immensely popular upon release in 1983, and since then has been ported to almost every single system that can run it. Now, the iPhone joins those ranks, and seems well done. If you want to play the original Arcade mode, you can, though apparently it's so original that not even the developers recommend it -- you end up skipping sequences and it's really, really hard. Much more appetizing to today's whiny easy mode gamers is the Home mode, which not only can include a "guide" on the screen to show possible controls, but will let you play through sequences over again until you get them right.

Touch Arcade says that even at $4.99 [App Store link], it's a must-buy for nostalgia's sake, and if you have any interest in playing the game at all, it's worth the price (especially if you hung around arcades when it came out, as you've probably already put that much and then some into the game). If, on the other hand, you aren't impressed by the gameplay above and/or are too young to remember what a laserdisc is (it's like a record-sized DVD... wait, did you just ask what a record was?), you might not be intrigued.

Dragon's Lair ships for iPhone and iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dragon's Lair ships for iPhone and iPod touch originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dragon Dictate Voice Transcription for iPhone Comes to US App Store — Get it While it’s Free!

Dragon Dictate [Free - iTunes link] brings the voice recognition and transcription technology behind Nuance’s well known Dragon Naturally Speaking to the iPhone (and iPod touch with mic attached).

Basically, you tap a button, say what you want to say — from a brief reminder note to long, flowing prose — and Dragon sucks it in and coverts it all to text. Nuance claims it’s 5 times faster than typing, and you can email or SMS the results, and of course to update Twitter or Facebook via copy and paste. There’s even a voice-controlled correction UI.

Best of all, Dragon Dictate is free for a “limited time” — though it appears to be US-only at the moment (what, licensing problems, or don’t international users speak?)

If you give it a try, let us know how you like it…

[via TUAW]

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

Dragon Dictate Voice Transcription for iPhone Comes to US App Store — Get it While it’s Free!

Mythical iTablet Competitor CrunchPad Undead — JooJoo Coming for $500

The CrunchPad has crashed and burned amid antics and accusations worthy of the silliest TV legal dramas (Denny Crane!), but from its ashes has risen might rise the JooJoo. No, really, that’s what they’re calling it because it’s magic.

A 12″ capacitive tablet that runs only a Unix kernel and boots in 9 seconds into a WebKit browser, and… that’s it. Think Chrome OS but not Google’s in a mythical iTablet package but not Apple’s. Other specs include 4GB of storage, WiFi (no cell data), 5 hours of battery life, USB, headphone, and $500 to take home.

We’re with the many other tech’ers who think that’s a hefty price for a mobile web browser, given the price of everything from the iPod touch (or iPhone) to ultra-cheap netbooks, but there may just be a niche for those early adapters who don’t blink at half a c-note.

Perhaps not ironically, Steve Jobs is rumored to have said he won’t ship an Apple tablet until the device does more than let people browser the web on the toilet. Whether that means this specific a device is a space Apple isn’t going to enter, or that $500 for anything that won’t run more than just a web browser is a non-starter in the minds of arguably the best product picker of the last 20 years… you tell us. Want?

For more on the JooJoo check out Engadget’s hands-on…

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

Mythical iTablet Competitor CrunchPad Undead — JooJoo Coming for $500

Molinker is no more on the App Store — ratings scam results in expulsion

Well, here's the happy side to the police state known as Apple's App Store. One of the more prolific app makers out there, Molinker, has been recently unceremoniously expelled from the Apple orchard due to its manipulation of app ratings and reviews. As it turns out, Molinker has been massaging the truth by pumping out false five star reviews for its wares, and now Phil Schiller himself has stepped in and pulled the company's whole catalog -- consisting of more than 1,000 apps -- seemingly permanently:


So the App Store is now a bunch of travel guides lighter and Mr. Schiller gets a "good boy" badge from the blog brigade. Good news all around then.

Molinker is no more on the App Store -- ratings scam results in expulsion originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s Larrabee Graphics Chip Delayed Indefinitely

ArsTechnica reports that Intel's Larrabee graphics chip technology has been delayed indefinitely:

Specifically, Larrabee v1 is so delayed that, at the time it eventually launches, it just won't be competitive as a discrete graphics p...

Apple Removes Apps Due to Accusations of Shill Reviews

iPhoneography reports that Apple's Phil Schiller has apparently taken action based on a complaint that one App Store developer was boosting their app's ratings artificially with fake reviews:

Please investigate for I have just looked...