TUAW review: Camera+ for iPhone

Filed under: iPhone, App Review

Last week, TUAW featured a post about how development house tap tap tap has been able to string together a series of App Store successes. In that post, we used tap tap tap's sales stats for Camera+ to demonstrate the company's success not only in the U.S. App Store, but internationally as well. That post got me intrigued about the Camera+ app, so I purchased it for installation on my iPhone 4. What I found is a US$1.99 app (it's currently on sale at that price, so buy it soon) that is a must-buy for any iPhone owner who likes to dabble in photography.

The UI for Camera+ is the first clever detail in an app that's chock-a-block with little wonders. What you see after launching the app is what appears to be the viewfinder on an DSLR camera with a small LCD display below. On that display are two buttons -- Take photos and Lightbox.

Take photos does exactly what you would expect -- the screen zooms up from the viewfinder view to a full-screen iPhone image of what your camera is facing. On the iPhone 4, of course, you have the choice of either the front-facing camera for self portraits or the high-resolution (5MP) camera for taking pictures of other people or objects. When you're ready to shoot, you can either just press the traditional shutter button or turn on image stabilization.

Continue reading TUAW review: Camera+ for iPhone

TUAW review: Camera+ for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TUAW review: Camera+ for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Parking Mania HD for iPad

The $3 game strategy puzzler succeeds on numerous fronts, and smartly offers three unique control schemes; but gamers may grow frustrated with Park Mania's control schemes.

GetPaid! for iPhone – Invoices, Income Chart & Time Sheets On the Run

Announcing Gladtiding Consulting, Inc., the developers of GetPaid! – PDF Invoice & Time Sheet, has released their latest update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users. The application offers users instant portable generation of professional PDF or HTML invoices and time sheets, which can be emailed, exported and tracked. The GetPaid! app also allows for [...]

Report Claims Apple’s Relationship With AT&T Has Deteriorated Into A Loveless Celebrity Marriage

Twitter, Google Calendar come together in TwitCal app

The $3 TwitCal lets you tweet and follow events through Twitter while also syncing with your Google Calendar so that all your events are in a single app.

Antenna-aid bandages your iPhone 4 reception issue, hopes for role in next Eminem video

Oh, Steve -- you should've known better. You show up and remove a laptop from a manila envelope, and Earth's most creative go and create a case fashioned out of one. You go and suggest that Eminem could "come out with a band-aid that goes over the corner" of your controversial iPhone 4, and well... this happens. You could wait for a free case, or you could buy six of these Antenna-aids for five bucks. The choice is obvious.

Antenna-aid bandages your iPhone 4 reception issue, hopes for role in next Eminem video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Listen to your e-mail with Text’nDrive

Text'nDrive's iPhone app allows drivers to listen and respond verbally to e-mail while keeping their hands and eyes on the road.

A Touch Puzzle 2.0 Gives iPhone Users An Addictive Way To Beat Boredom

Announcing that Programaciones Barcelona, the developer of A Touch Puzzle, has just released the latest update for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users. A Touch Puzzle 2.0 keeps user on their toes with fun graphics and sounds, and head exploding action. A Touch Puzzle 2.0 uses the iPhone’s touch screen to draw users in and [...]

Ngmoco’s We Farm now available in Canada

Filed under: iPhone, App Store

Ngmoco has released the followup to its popular We Rule game on the Canadian App Store. We Farm is, as you can see above, very similar to We Rule, with the main difference being that the game is set on a farm rather than in a medieval fantasy world. You'll be able to raise animals, plant vegetables, build up a barnyard, and of course, trade and share with friends to earn experience. We Rule originally launched in Canada back in February (Ngmoco likes to use America's neighbors to the north as a testing ground before releasing their apps worldwide), and then it was released to everyone in March, so we can probably expect the same time frame for We Farm.

Will it be as big a hit as We Rule was? It's hard to tell; the gameplay is certainly proven already, but one of the draws of We Rule was that it wasn't just a FarmVille clone, and obviously, this seems to be borrowing at least the setting from Zynga's popular title. Of course, another reason that We Rule was so popular was because it had the iPhone all to itself, and now FarmVille is up and running.

We'll see, though. Ngmoco has certainly shown that it's constantly learning about how to find success on the App Store; I'm sure the company has taken lessons from We Rule and GodFinger, not to mention that their development method allows for plenty of quick updates and changes if things don't work out right away. It's been fascinating to watch Ngmoco's experiment, and We Farm (along with We City, another adaptation planned for release soon) is their next step.

Ngmoco's We Farm now available in Canada originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ngmoco's We Farm now available in Canada originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Q3 2010 financial results

Apple will be releasing their Q3 2010 financial results today and holding the usual conference call at 5pm ET. We’ll be listening in, sharing the highlights, and providing our typical color and commentary along the way.

The results themselves will be from a period before the “antennagate” issues but the Q&A after the statement will likely address at least some of it, especially as it relates to projections for next quarter earnings.

The audio stream will be available via Apple.com.

[Apple PR]

Apple Q3 2010 financial results is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple shows off $100 million antenna design and test labs

Following their iPhone 4 press conference last Friday, Apple showed for the first time their massive $100 dollar antenna design and test labs both on the web at apple.com, and to select members of the media. The images look like something out of science fiction, of Charles Xavier’s Cerebro and the StarGate recreated in blue foam. There are 4 facilities with 17 antenna characterization (anechoic) chambers put together to test everything from 2G and 3G cell networks to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Apple’s site says:

Apple engineers tested iPhone 4 in a variety of scenarios, environments, and conditions in order to gauge performance. They spent thousands of hours in cities in the U.S. and throughout the world testing iPhone 4 call quality, dropped-call performance, call origination and termination, and in-service time. They tested iPhone 4 while stationary, at high and low speeds, and in urban, dense urban, and highway environments. In low-coverage areas and good-coverage areas, during peak and off-peak hours — iPhone 4 was field-tested in nearly every possible coverage scenario across different vendor and carrier equipment all over the world.

Josh Topolsky of Engadget says:

And we get it — there have been people out there suggesting that Apple simply didn’t test their phone before letting it out into the market. Or that they were so bone-headed that they only tested it in those special cases made for bringing the phone to bars, so of course they didn’t see the antenna issue. But let’s be honest — this is a multi-billion dollar company that’s been making wireless devices for a long, long time. This isn’t their first phone, it’s their fourth, and though there have been reception issues with the previous models, nothing suggests that Apple isn’t doing its due diligence on these phones. The truth is, we didn’t need the tour to understand that, but it’s possible some people do.

John Paczkowski of Digital Daily says:

[Ruben Caballero, a Senior Director of Engineering responsible for antenna design] said the iPhone 4 spent 2 years in those labs before it was released to the public. 2 years. The company tested the hell out of the device and any suggestion that it didn’t is ludicrous. Apple was clearly well aware that the iPhone 4 can suffer some signal degradation when held a certain way, but in its eyes that’s the original sin with which ALL cell phones are born. Let he who is without sin cast the first phone, right?

MG Siegler of TechCrunch says:

No matter what your take is on the iPhone 4 antenna — my take is here: it’s real, but not a big deal — there is no question that Apple spends a huge amount of time and money testing these devices. And the fact that the thing people will care most about in this whole 1,200-word post is the passing mention that the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 may have been in one of these rooms, says just about all you need to say about the state of the iPhone.

So our take away is this: Apple has put hundreds of millions of dollars and years of effort into building, staffing, and using a state of the art antenna reception facility. They want to create the best phones in the world, not just the best digital devices. Of course they knew there was a single death-touch point of attenuation on iPhone 4 but decided the benefits of overall better reception, longer battery life, and innovating in the antenna space (which is always a step-forward, step-back game) was worth the trade-off. But they utterly failed to properly prepare users and especially the media for the implications of that trade-off, and then reacted poorly when that lack of prep-time came back to bite them. (Including trying to switch the discussion from specific death-touch to industry-wide death-grip).

The confluence of that technological trade-off, failure to set expectations, and the media frenzy that’s followed has created a huge rift in popular perception probably best exemplified by Consumer Reports — the crux upon which a lot of “antennagate” hinges — not recommending iPhone 4 despite rating it the best smartphone on the planet.

It would almost be comedic if it wasn’t so absurd.

Apple shows off $100 million antenna design and test labs is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple Responds to Questions About Location Tracking and Privacy

Nearly a month ago, federal lawmakers Edward Markey and Joe Barton wrote a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs expressing concern over and seeking clarification on recent changes to the company's privacy polic...

MOG music app for iPhone/iPod touch launches in App Store

Today MOG (Music on the Go) [iTunes Link - free download] has been released into the App Store. For $10/per month you will get access to over 8 million songs with the ability to store the MP3 files (up to 320Kbps) directly on your iPhone/iPod touch to listen to them whenever and wherever you want. Keep in mind this is purely an app that allows you to store the music locally on your iOS device and not actually keep or transfer the files.

Unlike some of the streaming music apps such as Pandora, with MOG you get ad-free music from favorite artists with no limit on the number of consecutive tracks by a single artist. The one big pitfall is the current lack of multi-tasking support. On a positive note we were promised that this will be added within a few weeks time period.

Be sure to check out the video after the the break and if you give MOG’s free three-day, no commitment trial a go let us know what you think in the comments below!

MOG music app for iPhone/iPod touch launches in App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The history of Apple and AT&T’s marriage of convenience

Filed under: iPhone

Wired has just published a lengthy article that outlines the often uncomfortable partnership between Apple and AT&T. The overall thread of the article isn't anything new. Apple isn't happy with AT&T's flimsy network infrastructure; meanwhile, AT&T, though certainly happy with the increased profits it's gained thanks to the iPhone, feels as though Apple hasn't held up its end of the whole "partnership" angle, since Apple is insisting that AT&T solve its network problems on its own.

What's most interesting and entertaining about the article are some of the anecdotes. Within a few months of the iPhone's introduction in 2007, AT&T, finding itself pummelled by unprecedented demands on its network, met with Apple and tried to get the company to put some data-sipping restrictions on the device. AT&T wanted YouTube to run only over Wi-Fi, run at lower resolution, or restrict videos to a minute of playback. Apple flat-out refused. "No, we are not going to mess up the consumer experience on the iPhone to make your network tenable," said an Apple employee (according to Wired). When AT&T threatened to escalate the matter to its executives, Apple staffers said, "Fine, we'll escalate it to Steve and see who wins."

Apparently, an AT&T rep once suggested that Steve Jobs wear a business suit to a meeting with AT&T's board of directors. The response? "We're Apple. We don't wear suits. We don't even own suits." At the same time, Steve Jobs considered severing ties with AT&T only a few months after the iPhone's launch. Only two things kept Apple from dropping AT&T in 2007: the iPhone would have needed to be redesigned completely in order to function on Verizon's CDMA network, and it was also unlikely that Verizon would handle the additional data load any better than AT&T had.
As an international iPhone user, my own experience with AT&T has been mercifully brief and limited to them telling me that they wouldn't allow me to get a prepaid SIM so that I could use my New Zealand iPhone in the US for two weeks. After reading the Wired piece (which is an intriguing read and highly recommended), I still can't say that I'm sympathetic toward AT&T. I will say that it seems like any US carrier who tied itself to the iPhone in 2007 would likely have found itself in the same state as AT&T. AT&T's profits are up, but its reputation is circling the drain, ... and its image is unlikely to recover anytime soon.

The history of Apple and AT&T's marriage of convenience originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The history of Apple and AT&T's marriage of convenience originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate gets approved by FCC?

That Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate that we expected to be announced back at WWDC finally seems to have gotten the green light from the FCC and received approval. As Engadget points out, Apple generally keeps all of their device filings with the FCC locked down and with this filing being released there is great possibility we may see this new device hit the stores later this week.

This new Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate has long been rumored to be a large, flat surface with iPhone/iPad-like capacitive multitouch input to the Mac. Possibly supporting the full range of gestures that the iPhone and iPad currently support. If you look at page 45 of the FCC test report you will see the device is described as a “Bluetooth Trackpad”. Something even more telling about the test report is the fact it was completed back in October of 2009.

Why would Apple be holding this device back on us for almost a year now?

[Engadget]

Apple’s Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate gets approved by FCC? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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RedEye Mini dongle now on sale for $49, looking good in early review

You've heard about it for months, and now the universal remote that looks nothing like a universal remote is finally on sale in 52 nations. Thinkflood's RedEye Mini -- which simply plugs into the headphone jack of your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch -- can now be procured for $49, and when used with the gratis app in the App Store, can control anything in your home entertainment setup that accepts IR commands. ZDNet was fortunate enough to get a little hands-on time with the device, and their early impressions are quite positive. In fact, they recommend skipping the Harmony hoopla and heading right for this if you're already an iDevice owner, and at a buck under a Grant, we certainly aren't in a position to argue.

Continue reading RedEye Mini dongle now on sale for $49, looking good in early review

RedEye Mini dongle now on sale for $49, looking good in early review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Wars: Trench Run stays on target with 2.0 update

You're still required to maneuver straight down that trench, but now you can also get a chance to man the turrets in the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

FileMaker Go launches today for iPad and iPhone

Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPad

Mobile databases: they're a good thing, as Martha might say. Back when Palm ruled the handheld space and HanDBase was the king of the data portability castle, it might have been hard to imagine the iPhone/iPad world of today -- but the challenge of taking your data with you on the road is still just as present now as it was a decade ago.

For Mac users, and a hearty helping of Windows users too, the database of choice for small to medium business and home use is FileMaker. Although there's already a third-party mobility solution for FileMaker DBs and the iDevices (via the US$9.99 FMTouch application and development suite), the notion of FileMaker on the move gets a big authenticity boost today as the Apple subsidiary announces FileMaker Go for the iPhone and iPad.

The two separate applications ($19.99 for the iPhone/iPod touch version, $39.99 for the iPad version) don't allow the creation of new databases -- you'll need FileMaker 7 or higher for Mac or Windows to tackle that. Once your databases are created, however, you can access them remotely over WiFi or 3G (given the proper networking configuration for your server, or a hosted FM provider) and update records, search and browse on the fly.

You can also operate in fully mobile mode, with a copy of your database sent via iTunes, email, Dropbox, box.net, etc. and stored in its entirety on the iDevice. While there's no record-level sync built into the product that would allow you to 'rejoin' a database to its parent once it's been on the road, FileMaker VP Ryan Rosenberg told us that there are script-based sync solutions available from FileMaker's developer network if you have to reconcile detached DBs back into a master file.

We'll be diving into these apps with gusto once they are available on the App Store later today. The potential for mobile recordkeeping, audit and customer service applications built on top of FileMaker and the iPad is huge -- can't wait to see what some of the experienced FileMaker development folk can do with this new capability.

FileMaker Go launches today for iPad and iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

FileMaker Go launches today for iPad and iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 antenna, Pictures, iPhone 4 returns, iOS 4 and iPad, Future of the jailbreak – From the Forums

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• With all of this antenna talk going around we are going to revisit the iPhone 4 Reception Issue thread. Has this issue been blown out of proportion or is it really a major concern?

• Need a place to show off some of those high quality photos you have taken with your iPhone 4? This is the place to do it: Show off your iPhone 4 pictures here.

• How many of you know someone or you yourself actually have returned their iPhone 4?

• We all know not to expect iOS 4 for iPad until sometime this fall but will it bring any special unique features to iPad?

• For those of you who are interested in jailbreaking your iPhone, what do you think the future of the jailbreak holds? Is it coming to an end or will it continue on stronger than ever?

See you in the forums!

iPhone 4 antenna, Pictures, iPhone 4 returns, iOS 4 and iPad, Future of the jailbreak – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple’s Omnia 2 antenna claims

RIM and Nokia aren't the only ones saying "WTF Steve!?" after last Friday's press conference attempted to draw the competition into the Antennagate saga. Samsung has issued its own choice reaction about supposed problems with the Omnia 2, though this one is somewhat less sternly worded than the others:

The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone's antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna. We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future.

Why is Samsung being rather more polite? Because it's full of really nice people? Or, is it because the iPhone 4 is stuffed with Samsung memory chips? We'll let your level of cynicism be your guide here.

Samsung joins the crowd, rejects Apple's Omnia 2 antenna claims originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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