November 2008: Monthly Archive

So, many of us felt a a great disturbance in the force when the selection of characters included with the original Lightsaber Unleashed (formerly known as PhoneSaber) were tied to the simultaneously released Force Unleashed video game rather than to the original Star Wars movies we all (should!) know and love.

No Luke. No Yoda. No Obi-wan.

Well, Lightsaber Unleashed has just hit 2.1 and with it comes the ability to rectify this disturbance, provided you’re willing to do it yourself. Not only can you make your own Lightsabers, mixing handles and colors for the perfect shade, but you can take a photo or choose from a photo album picture to make your own entire character — complete with fields for names and bios!

Major improvement to an already geek-favorite app!

Gallery after the jump!

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Forbes.com (via TUAW) is claiming Ziphone jailbreak author Piergiorgio Zambrini has found a way to crash the iPhone (and other computer systems, according to Zambrini’s own website) using specially crafted video files:

The bug Zambrini found is in the audio portion of Apple’s video format. Knowing the bug exists, someone could write a program that incorporates the bug into a video file and trigger a crash whenever an iPhone attempts to run that file. The bug, which is located in a shared code library that is used across most Apple operating systems and some Linux ones as well, doesn’t appear to cause any permanent damage, but immediately sends the device into a panic that leads to a lengthy reboot.

Since it crashed the device and not just the app, one security expert quoted feels it’s a kernal vulnerability that’s been discovered. Zambrini, who paradoxically claims to have both applied for a job with Apple’s security team, and that working for Apple is not his goal, is apparently exploring the vulnerability as a way to inject malicious code.

Lovely.

Howsabout next time we be a little more responsible and keep the information confidential, alerting only the OS makers involved, giving them a reasonable amount of time to patch the problem before we put real world end-users at risk by alerting bad guys to potential exploits, b’okay?

So, I am sitting at my local Starbucks and decided to give the new AT&T free Wi-Fi a spin on my iPhone 3G. The process was painless. After turning on Wi-Fi, you are presented with a screen to enter you phone number. Afterwards, it tells you that you are receiving a link via text (for free) with a link to access AT&T’s free Wi-Fi.

I have to admit, at first I was thinking that this seems a little complicated and a lot of steps to just connect via Wi-Fi… but wait, it is all-goooooood.

So, I get my text message and it tells me that I now have access and that it is renewable every 24 hours. Cool. Now, why is this exciting and post-worthy? Well, If you have tried to connect to an AT&T Wi-Fi access point before, say, via Starbucks, you connect, but as soon as your iPhone goes into sleep mode, you loose the Wi-Fi connection and you have to reconfigure it all over again!

With this process, this does not happen! I can only assume it adds your MAC address to AT&T’s service. So everytime your iPhone goes into sleep mode, you don’t have to worry about turning it back on! It automatically connects (well, for 24 hours anyway). How great is that! I say kudos to AT&T in taking the extra time to ensure that the free Wi-Fi experience on your iPhone is flawless. Good job.

Check out the gallery below!

Easy Relax (Free Version) Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum!

Ahh….relaxtion. The often unachievable goal of most adults (especially during the weekend). With the increasing stress of our lives, is it any surprise that huge numbers of “relaxation aides” have appeared on the market. Massagers, aroma therapy, ambient noise generators – all trying to help us relax.

Well, now the iPhone has gotten into the game.

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Mark Jardine and Paul Haddad of Tapbots are the breakout designers and engineers behind Weightbot (iTunes link), one of the most original user experiences released on the iPhone App Store to date. Continuing the iPhone blog’s behind-the-scenes look at iPhone application development, Mark and Paul were kind enough to take time and discuss their ideas on interface and interactivity, and how what more we might expect from Apple’s next generation mobile platform.

TiPb: How was approaching the iPhone interface for this App different than how you would have approached an interface for another platform?

Mark: It was really different coming from a web design background. 320×460 isn’t a lot of space to work with and then you have to factor in the huge difference in input devices. A person’s finger is a lot less accurate than a mouse cursor. At the same time, I wasn’t designing a website so I was freed from a lot of rules and conventions I’ve been following over the past 8 years. So my initial approach was pretty simple. If Weightbot was an actual physical device, how could I make it usable and fun at the same time?

Paul: The thing I found challenging about dealing with the iPhone interface is that users want a silky smooth and yet the iPhone and iPod touch are both very slow compared to any modern Mac. I spent a lot of time juggling things around in order to get a consistent 60 fps for all the various animations within Weightbot. Coming from our current Multi Gigahertz, Multi Gigabyte and Multi Core world where for the most part you don’t have to worry about performance to a platform like the iPhone where every cycle and byte counts is a big change.

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November 4th is only one day away, and it’s time for you to get out and vote. And if voting for the next President of the United States is not enough, head on into our forums over and get your vote on… TiPb style!

I am not one to complain but… I will admit there are some things that I would like Apple to add and change with the iPhone. Then again, there is not a single device out there that is perfect. That just does not exist. None the less, you have to give Apple credit for giving us frequent firmware updates to improve the phone. (Ask a Palm OS user how often they would receive major updates…) So what exactly are you looking for Apple to add to the iPhone in the next firmware release?

Is your iPhone getting old and boring? Or are you so in love with your phone that there is nothing that would separate you? What would it take for you to leave the iPhone and move onto something else?

How has your reception been lately with your iPhone 3G? Who really is to blame for the reception issues that you may be experiencing right now? Well head on over and let us know if you think it’s Apple or AT&T!

Next up, we have a thread from forum member Dizzy, he’s having a little problem with his iPhone 3G USB cable tearing. Anyone else have a cable that is tearing? None of us here at TiPb have had that happen. Hopefully it stays that way!

Last but not least, here is a thread that revolves around the iPhone and gaming. The most wanted killer iPhone game is…? You decide on this one. What would a sure fire hit for Apple and the iPhone? Let us know!

In order to vote for the next President of the United States, you had to register… well you have to register here as well! It’s fast, simple, and can be done right here!

See you on the forums!

Every week I will be bringing you what I think are the week’s biggest stories and articles. Let’s get started, after the break!

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This week’s Around SPE is sponsored by the Android Central Store, where you can find a full complement of accessories for the T-Mobile G1 including headset adapters, body skins, and screen protectors.

What’s the big news in the Smartphone world this week? It’s a mix, really. Android’s looking like a viable platform to more and more people, there are a ton of Windows Mobile devices on the way, and both CrackBerry.com and the iPhone Blog are running contests that ought to spark your interest. Read on! Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve asked this before: do iPhone WebApps have a future? Sure, Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, and even Apple to some degree are all racing to own what many think will be the next paradigm shift in platforms: the cloud.

But when Steve Jobs announced WebApps as the first iPhone development environment back at WWDC 2007, the silence was deafening. Sure, many innovative games, utilities, and optimized RIA (rich internet applications) emerged — and Apple keeps track of them on a completely non-iPhone optimized directory, but the moment the iPhone SDK was released, the momentum shifted near-instantaneously. (Even the Facebook 2.0 App managed to trump their previously dominant iPhone WebApp).

TiPb uses the WPtouch iPhone Theme to present a better experience to iPhone browsers. After all, even in light of Apple’s “just the internet”, they have encouraged these types of sites through their developer guidelines, and have snuck in code into iPhone OS 2.1 to allow full screen WebApps that hide the “chrome” (interface, including URL and search boxes, buttons, progress bars, etc.)

One of our readers, Christopher, also sent in word of his iWebKit tools, which seek to make it faster, simpler, and easier to develop and deploy iPhone websites.

So is there’s still a time and a place for both? Is that time shortening and the place getting smaller for WebApps on the iPhone? Or will they ride the same tide as Microsoft Office for the Web 2009 (or whenever it ships) and surge ahead again, allowing native Apps to enjoy only transient dominance?

Since our last Apps for Less post, price drops worth mentioning have been far and few between. Well today we finally have a notable mention for you. Especially if you are a fan of IM clients…

Today is the final day to get the best IM application available on the iPhone, BeejiveIM (iTunes Link), on sale for $3.00 off the normal price for $12.99. While that is still not the price you’d like to pick it up at, it’s better than the normal price of $15.99. So if you were waiting for a price drop be sure to head into the App Store today!

Once again, the sale ends TODAY! This is the IM client to get, you get what you pay for and you won’t be disappointed with this app. And if you are still on the fence, be sure to check out Dieter’s first look and Casey’s BeeJive vs. Palringo review showdown.

(Thanks to Mr. Hi-Definition for the tip!)