2008: Yearly Archive

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Join us for the second of two special Smartphone Round Robin Roundtables! This week, Casey, Kevin, Rene, and Dieter discuss the final two devices in our Smartphone Round Robin: the T-Mobile G1 and the the HTC Fuze. Plus, they answer your questions live!

Music: Our Slanted Voices by DoKashiteru

Thought that big honking box under the tree was a PSP? Psyche! It’s an iControlPad, the gaming add-on Casey linked up back in August that makes your iPhone pretty much the same size! Says TUAW:

Engadget thinks they need some official Apple support, but all they’ll really need is developer support in the App Store (they say they already have strong support from the jailbreak folks).

That may be so, but we wonder if apps that include hooks to accept controls from this thing would technically be considered to be trying to access the dock port, a no-no. So it ’s got an uphill climb to face — at least it won’t doing it looking as naked as the above photo suggests. The final production models will be black.

Any hard-core iGamers out there eagerly anticipating this d-pad and button-strewn power up?

MacHeist has their Xmas Giving Tree up, and if you register with them for their promotion today, you may just find some nifty Mac software wrapped up for you beneath it! Send them a shout out on Twitter, and you may just find some iPhone apps dangling from the tree as well!

We’re not 100% sure how it works, or who gets what and why, but you’ll definately get something for your trouble. Act fast though, like Santa this deal is done in a day!

(I see Synergy, Enigmo 2, iConquer, 1Password, and Headline so far!)

Did someone special leave an iPhone 3G under the gadget tree for you this holiday season? If the gift-wrapping has been shredded, the box busted open, and you’re now staring in wonder at your own personal pocket universe denter, trying to figure out just what to do next, don’t worry — TiPb’s got you covered!

Check out our handy dandy iPhone Help and How-To Guides for all the details and step-by-step instructions on how to move your personal information and music and media over from other platforms and devices, reviews of the latest iPhone OS 2.2, walkthroughs for setting up Exchange ActiveSync and Apple MobileMe, as well as some tricks to improve performance… and even jailbreak your new toy if you’re so inclined.

Need more help? Be sure to check out our TiPb iPhone forums! Want to trick out your new iPhone 3G with chargers, cases, cables, blue tooth, and all the trimmings? Head on over to the TiPb iPhone accessory store.

Happy holidays!

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

We’ve come full circle. After previewing the Android G1, Treo Pro, HTC FUZE, and BlackBerry Bold, I’m finally — finally — back to the iPhone 3G.

Will I still know how to use it? Will it be enough to mellow my month-long harsh? Will my own childlike sense of wonder be restored?

Check out the video, and then head on over to my triumphant return thread in the TiPb iPhone forums, and help me find out!

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A friend of mine works as a rep for a carrier and so, in the middle of my BlackBerry Round in the Robin, we made a deal: she would let me test drive the Storm and I would let her try out both the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold (don’t tell Kevin!)

Sidebar: She is an avid BlackBerry Pearl user who, disappointed with the lack of current Qwerty hotness on the CDMA side, was very impressed with the Bold. She is also an avowed iPhone hater. Or rather she was. While I don’t think Apple’s little touchscreen wonder won her over, she was amazed at the apps, especially things like Google Earth. The Storm… suffice it to say she wasn’t a fan.

Okay, fine, what was my take? Read on…

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No sooner did Apple flip the switch on Pull My Finger but 14 fart-themed apps have hit the App Store and according to Macrumors, leader of the app pack, iFart Mobile, generated $9198 in one day. I need to quit this blog and go make iDoody, or something (don’t tell Dieter!).

Daring Fireball weighs in on the use of private API’s, disagreeing not only with the practice of using them, but with the people who use and tell others hot to use them. A risky practice to be certain, and one that does endanger the user experience, but I like to think (or hope) developers are adults who will make their own informed decisions and take personal responsibility for those decisions, not try to lay blame on code samples or books.

Lastly, we have a rant sent in from PHARTGAMES developer Perry Hart who’s more than a littler frustrated with the continued delays and absolute opacity of Apple’s approval process:

I submitted ZombieMangle over a week ago now, Which was what i though would be a perfect time to release just before christmas. However, A few days after submission apple sends me an email stating that they require “Unexpected Additional Time For Review” with no reason whatsoever for the delay. So I do a search for any other developers who have received this email, and it appears there’s ALOT of them. What this email basically means is that your application has joined a queue which never gets looked at and your app wont be approved, or rejected depending on apples discression for months. One developer has been on the queue for three months, and received absolutely no information about what was wrong.

Emails to support were ignored, phone calls to support were outsourced and scripted, and complaints in the official forums have gotten boiler plate from the mods. Hart’s conclusion:

I think it’s time that all developers and potential developers know that they are working with amateurs.

Did Apple underestimate just how popular the App Store would be? Were they unprepared? And is their newness to the market — the newness OF the market — overwhelming them a degree such that they simply cannot cope? Or is this just Apple being Apple again, saying nothing and leaving people to increasingly frustrated assumptions?

[This is an official Smartphone Experts Round Robin post! Every day you reply here, you're automatically entered for a chance to win an iPhone 3G, Case-Mate Naked Case, and Motorola H9 Bluetooth Headset! Full contest rules here!]

Fair enough, the CrackBerry’s didn’t smack me around as badly as the WinManiac — those who bothered to read the context disclaimer and understand the point of the Round Robin at least! Ha! And along with the awesome CrackBerry.com forum members who tried to help a poor iPhone n00b out, the commenters added many useful insights and a tip or two to boot! Still some questions were asked and that means there are answers to be attempted… after the break!

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Well the holidays are right around the corner so why not give our readers one last Apps for Less before the new year.

Now is your chance to grab a very addictive game, Topple [iTunes Link], and you can’t complain about the price when it’s FREE. This is a limited time offer so be sure to grab it as soon as possible.

How many of you still require hands free voice dialing? Well if Apple will not give you what you want, you always have the 3rd party developers! Enter Voice Dial… [iTunes Link] It may not be 100% perfect, but it’s better than what you have already no?

Next up is a little app called Touch Physics. What is the goal of this game you ask? Simply to get the ball from the start to the star. To do this you will need to construct different objects on each level by drawing with your finger and everything is based on real physics. Worth a try, especially for $.99.

Enjoy these great savings!

Note to Developers: Are you a developer and have any apps in the App Store going on sale or that you simply think is a great deal? Contact us and let us know to include it in a future Apps for Less!

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