April 2009: Monthly Archive

There have been a lot of rumors lately about the next generation of iPhone hardware having a 3.2 megapixel camera, but right now we have to deal with what has been given to us: a decent 2 megapixel camera with zero features.

That brings us to a great post that we noticed today on PCMAG.com, 22 Ways to Make Your iPhone a Better Camera. One of the most useful apps they list has to be Photogene. [iTunes Link] This app allows you to:

• Enhance photos with multiple color adjustment options and a sharpen filter.
• Crop and straighten.
• Add fun effects like text balloons, frames or special filters

Be sure to check out PCMAG.com’s article for a boatload of tips and apps to make the best with your iPhone’s camera!

We’d mentioned previously that AT&T is upgrading the ole rabbit-eared 3G network for Apple’s upcoming next generation iPhone, and WMExperts covered it yesterday, but it’s worth surfacing the details:

AT&T Mobility VP Scott McElroy says software updates will double the downstream speed to 7.2 megabits per second and are already being tested in two markets [...] But AT&T’s looking past that and toward HSPA+, which will increase speeds to 21 Mb/s. And looking even further into the future, tests with the 4G LTE standard should begin sometime next year.

A helpful commenter, Will, gave us the skinny on those phat pipes after the last podcast:

• Plain ‘ol 3G refers to the original WCDMA specs which gives a max throughput of 384 kbps.
• 3.5G in the UMTS world commonly refers to HSDPA which is already up and running.
• “3.75G” – 3GPP Revision 6 – HSDPA (max of 14.4Mbps) and HSUPA (max of 5.76Mbps), known together as HSPA
• “3.9G” – 3GPP Revision 7 – HSDPA (max of 42Mbps) and HSUPA (max of 11Mbps), known as HSPA+

Thanks Will. Well, by any other name, we hope these upgrades not only give iPhone users blazing fast speeds, but better reliability. Doesn’t matter how fast you go if you can’t connect, right?

Ars Technica’s report on Mobile Squared’s projection that — at the current rate — the App Store will hit its one BILLIONth download sometime this Thursday:

Apple is currently averaging 5.1 million downloads per day. This is quite an increase from the 2.98 million downloads per day for the first 500 million, showing that the App Store’s offerings have indeed increased in popularity. Unsurprisingly, most apps were free downloads, though mobile squared’s data says that the average cost of a paid download is $2.20.

Now, we have to ask: if observing an event changes an event, does blogging about a projected download date increase downloads, moving the date sooner? Probably, but not as much as Apple has by offering a $10,000 iTunes gift certificate and a ton of great Apple prizes…

Yesterday we posted that Quickoffice Mobile Suite was (finally!) available in the iTunes App Store. Well, our good friend Matt Miller from sibling site NokiaExperts went one step further and provided a great overview via his ZDNet column.

After a couple hours of usage, I have to say Quicksheet is quite good while Quickword needs a couple of immediate updates.

Why does Matt feel this way? Check out his complete post for details as well as a comprehensive image gallery and video.

We know our readers are far too savvy to ever fall victim to the “greater internet ****wad theory“, but a couple posts today made us stop and think about App Store reviews, how the system works (or doesn’t), and whether we ever take the time to leave positive reviews for developers of our favorite apps, or just tear off in a fury when we think we’ve been badly done by?

Last things first, is iTunes stacked against developers? Maniacal Rage (via Daring Fireball) has highlighted an issue also raised today on Twitter by Craig Hockenberry, and submitted to Apple via Radar, namely that the iTunes review system, which may work well for music and other media, breaks down when it comes to the back-and-forth requirement of the app ecosystem.

Says Garrett Murray:

But my favorite part of this whole experience is that there’s no way for me to respond to reviews as the app creator. So I can’t go in and say, “Hey, by the way, version 1.3 fixes all this and we’re just waiting on Apple’s ridiculously slow and convoluted approval process!” I just sit by and watch.

Murray’s deeper contention is that, through a one-way review system on iTunes, and a fart-app-driven, race-to-the-bottom rewarded ecosystem, Apple is fostering exactly the kind of that developers don’t want to have as customers. Yep, the dreaded appsholes.

Perhaps developers, many of whom treat their creations as dearly as children, aren’t thick skinned enough to handle the greater pressure — and greater odds of negative pressure — that came with the 20 million iPhone OS (including iPod touch) ecosystem. Maybe users like us forget there are real, living, breathing people on the other end of our “send” buttons. Maybe anger and bad experience are greater motivators than appreciation and great experience. We don’t know.

But here’s what we’re interested in finding out: do you leave positive reviews for the apps you love? Of your top 5 favorite all time iPhone (or iPod touch) apps, how many have you left rave reviews for? And to help grow and support the developers behind those great apps, would you consider doing so now if you haven’t already?

Ars Technica has heard from those ever-enigmatic “sources familiar with” that there might just be more going on behind the rumored new Voice Control feature in iPhone 3.0 than we’ve seen so far:

Jibbler appears be an enhancement to the iPhone SpringBoard application, the Finder-esque app that acts as a launcher and will support the newly announced 3.0 Spotlight search. Jibbler may be controlled via the iPhone headset—button squeezes could be used to record short voice segments from the user, which Jibbler will then interpret. Voice synthesis can then be used to give the user a response, similar to the latest generation iPod shuffle, which can “read” playlists and track names—the difference being that the iPhone hardware itself could handle real-time voice synthesis.

Okay, so the code-name is worthy of a Microsoft de-branding exercise, but the technology is intriguing. Apple certainly has taken steps towards voice implementation with the latest iPod shuffle’s VoiceOver and recent headsets have raised the bar (perhaps too much) on control clicks.

Many users have asked for simple voice dialing. Is Apple providing that and, in typical fashion, wondrously more with “Jibbler”, or is it a case of breaking a simple function by stretching it too far?

Tapbots, one of the most consistently innovative user experience-oriented development houses on the iPhone platform, just let us know they’ve updated their latest app, Convertbot (see our review), to version 1.1.

Convertbot is for those who not only want to get things done, but who want to enjoy doing them. This update adds user-selectable enabling/disabling of categories/units as well as a TON (standard or metric! Convert to your choice!) of new categories/units and new currencies.

What’s more, they’ve released Convertbot Mini as a Lite-as-in-FREE version of the app that gives you the same great UI, albeit without as many different units and categories (hey, it’s free and the full version is a steal at the introductory price!)

Convertbot 1.1 ($0.99 – iTunes link) and Convertbot Mini (Free – iTunes link) are both available now.

We know SlingPlayer for iPhone was built (we saw it in action at Macworld and shot the video above). We know SlingPlayer for iPhone was submitted to the App Store (SlingMedia disclosed that). But its current status is anyone’s guess. Users got upset they’d need to upgrade to the latest SlingBox. AT&T futzed with their Terms of Service but then backpedaled. BGR reported that it might or might not have been denied at AT&T’s request. SlingMedia responded that they hadn’t heard anything yet. So what’s changed?

Nothing. TUAW checked in with the folks at SlingMedia and the official word is that there’s still no word, and with an app as complex as SlingPlayer for iPhone, there could be no word for quite a while still.

So why post on it? Two reasons. 1) We get asked about it a lot. SlingPlayer is popular with the tech enthusiasts. 2) We hope that the minute blogs start posting that there’s no word, Apple will release it just to make the blogs look silly. Hey, it happens!

Maybe we should start a little informal drop pool. Pick the day you think SlingPlayer will finally be released in the iTunes App Store and post it in the comments. Let’s see if anyone can nail it!

We generally don’t cover Mac or Windows news on the site, even though most people who have an iPhone will at some point plug it into a laptop or desktop. And we almost never cover software that isn’t directly involved with that plug in connection. Why the exception? Tweetie for Mac began as Tweetie for iPhone, one of the most popular and robust iPhone Twitter clients in the App Store, and as much as the iPhone version set the foundation for Tweetie for Mac, it looks like Tweetie for Mac rebuilt that foundation for the next iPhone release.

Everything that’s good about Tweetie for iPhone is in the Mac version, including support for multiple accounts, an easy way to trace back conversations and fetch user data, and elegant solutions for tracking your timeline @mentions and direct messages. However, though some have complained about it on the iPhone version, I have found myself missing the big honking refresh button that tops all iPhone list views in Tweetie (you have to use a key combo or go to the menu for refresh or refresh-all on the Mac).

My wish list for the future? Double clicking sidebar icons to collapse or expand the reading panel so the application could be truly tiny but still informative when not in active use. Likewise, — tip of the hat to lgreenberg) iPhone style numbered badges to count unread replies and direct messages would be swell (though they may not scale nicely if you let them hit the thousands).

Overall, I’ve never had much use for desktop Twitter clients in the past but it’s been a day now and I’m still using Tweetie. I’m not a huge fan of Adobe Air-based apps, so the idea of a native application appeals to me greatly, and one that gives such an iPhone-like experience, with iPhone roots, just seems like such a natural fit to my usage style.

(Note: Tweetie for Mac has just been updated to fix an issue with SSL encryption)

Of course, come iPhone 3.0, Tweetie for iPhone may not just roll up all the re-engineered goodness from it’s big desktop brother, but we’re hoping it gets some Push Notification love as well.

Meanwhile, if you have a Mac, give the free, ad-supported version a try or take advantage of the reduced, debut-pricing of $14.95.

If you give it a try, let us know what you think. I still haven’t found a Windows or Linux client that feels “right” to me either, so if you have a recommendation, drop that in the comments as well!

ngmoco just sent over their latest trailer for StarDefense, coming in May for the iPhone and iPod touch, and we’ve uploaded it to YouTube and embedded it above for all to enjoy.

In Star Defense, players take control of the captain’s chair and travel to a series of planets invaded by alien S’rath forces. Twisting and spinning complete 3-D planets, players must examine the terrain to plan tower defenses, selecting from a broad range of turrets that unleash everything from burning hot plasma to high voltage decimation. With seven planets, five upgradable tower types and three difficulty levels available at launch, Star Defense will challenge players of all skill sets, from sci-fi fans to tower defense champions.

If this really combines the skills of ngmoco with the addictive qualities of tower defense, we’re already predicting a massive slowdown in postings here as we play review this baby for hours on end.

Screenshots after the break!

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