Smarttime Forum Review by msbaylor (see forum post for video highlight!) For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum!
The SmartTime application is a simple yet complex to-do application.
When creating a task/event, you have multiple options, including color category (6 choices), duration, deadline.
We’ve heard about podcast downloads being added to iPhone OS 2.2 before, but now Macrumors (via Shimanke.com — check out their screenshots) has more details how the process will work. In response to Chad’s fears of overwhelming AT&T’s fragile 3G network (aka “rabbit ears”), it looks like cell downloads will be limited to podcasts under 10MB, the same limitation currently imposed on App Store purchases over 3G. Both audio and video podcasts will be available for download, however, and on WiFi there’s no limitation.
Could TV Shows and even Movies be next? And with Exchange, MobileMe, and other sync services storming the “clouds”, what does this mean for the days of USB tethering to your Mac or PC?
Meanwhile, the App Store looks to have a cosmetic makeover, with categories now sporting the icons of some of their most popular Apps (i.e., Social Networking shows the Facebook icon).
Lastly, still no sign of Push Notification, which Macrumors hears via the whisper-net is still having “major issues”. After the disastrous MobileMe rollout, could Apple be waiting to get it right the first time?
But hey, at least we’re still getting all those Google Maps improvements!
[This is an iPhone blog App vs. App review! Last week, we ran our Google Earth vs. Earthscape showdown, with Google Earth scoring the win. But which commenter won an iTunes gift certificate? Congratulations musicobsession! Want your chance to win the winning app this week? Comment below!]
Have you ever had a song running on infinite loop in your brain but can’t quite place the name or artist? What about those times you are in a store or in your car and you hear a song that you really like, but you have no idea what the name of the song or artist is? Fortunately, there are two excellent FREE apps for your iPhone, Shazam and Midomi, that can help you name the song and artist, watch the music video, and even buy the song. How do they compare? Read on for App vs. App, music tagging edition!
Apple is still heavily promoting the App Store in their latest iPhone ad — and given the staggering number of Apps and even more staggering number of downloads, with good reason.
The latest focuses on restaurant random-finder Urban Spoon, and perhaps to appease the UK overseers, the ad now cops to having the “sequence shortened”. Dieter finds this “disappointingly normal”:
…what was so awesome about the initial commercials is they showed some speed, instruction, and fun just by showing you the interface.
So scratch the speed, but you can still shake some fun.
While we wait for an “official” iDisk app from Apple, the folks over at Quickoffice have released a free app for the iPhone called MobileFiles. This app is different from our recent post about Box.net. This app is used strictly to access your MobileFiles on the go. There is lots to talk about this app, but what I like the most is that when you access a file from your MobileMe account, it saves it locally for you to access later; without being online. You can even go in and manage what files you want to keep locally or not. Here is a high-level list of things you can do with Mobilefiles:
Quickoffice is also working on an office client for the iPhone as well. Others that have jumped in the document editing area are Documents to Go and Microsoft. Who will be victorious? I can’t wait to find out. Do yourself and favor, and if you have a MobileMe account, don’t wait, download this awesome app now!
Gallery after the jump…
UPDATE:
The New York Times gets clarification from Opera (via Daring Fireball):
“We stopped the work because of the prohibitive license,” to Mr. von Tetzchner wrote in an e-mail.
Turns out it was an internal project.
ORIGINAL POST:
So we, along with half the interwebs, picked up a paraphrased comment by Opera’s president that pretty much indicated Apple had rejected popular mobile browser Opera Mini from the App Store.
Well, John Gruber over at Daring Fireball did some digging and found out that it just ain’t so:
My understanding, based on information from informed sources who do not wish to be identified because they were not authorized by their employers is that Opera has developed an iPhone version of Opera Mini, they haven’t even submitted it to Apple, let alone had it be rejected.
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!
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.
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.
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!)
  
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The iPhone Blog merged with the Phone different site in May of 2008. Both sites were founded on a premise that comes one from one of Apple's old slogans: Think different. The iPhone Blog: for people who dare to phone different.
