IM+ 3.1 [$5.99 - iTunes link] has hit the app store with support for push notifications. We wrote about the new version a few days ago, and for those longing for IM style push Twitter support (yep, Twitter can work via IM, and IM+ can push notify you of DMs, @mentions, etc) it’s worth checking out.
Our only question — Is this beginning of push twitter tennis?
(To head off questions, Antonioj was using fancy Jailbreak themes and Growl for iPhone notification displays, I rocked it old school)
If you try it out, let us know what you think. And if you suddenly have a big old 99 new messages on your app badge, let us know how that works for you too!
Tiger Woods PGA Tour for iPhone is currently 30% off for a limited time [$6.99 - iTunes Link]. To celebrate, they’re giving a lucky TiPb reader a free copy for the iPhone (technically a gift certificate) and for the Xbox 360!
Hoping to score a give-away hole-in-one? Get over to our TiPb iPhone Forums and tell us your favorite funny golf moment or joke. (And no, you can’t just link to Robin Williams videos, okay?)
Zodttd (via Gizmodo) whets our appetites for iPhone 3GS jailbreaks to come:
I now have psx4iphone running very speedy on the 3GS. It’s at the point where Final Fantasy 7 is fullspeed at very least without sound. The build is rough around the edges, as you can’t switch games without restarting the emulator, and only memory card saves are currently working, no save states just yet. Both these issues are being worked on.
For those not into the jailbreak scene, that also whets our appetite for higher-end gaming to come as well…
As should be no surprise, given how the porn industry is typically among the first to adapt to new technologies, Macenstein reports that the first app to feature nudity has made it into the iTunes App Store.
The app is rated 17+ for frequent/intense sexual content or nudity, and frequent/intense mature/suggestive theme. This means the new Settings > General > Restrictions > feature for parental controls in iPhone 3.0 can be used to globally allow or block the app (or any app based on several age-based levels). MacRumors explains the results:
If an App falls outside of the allowed rating they will simply disappear off your home screen. Once you turn the restrictions off again, the affected apps reappear.
This should mean we don’t see any more app rejections for search-based language or content, but it also leads us to wonder how long it will be before we see major adult entertainment companies come knocking on the App Store door…
Went into the App Store and what did I see, why an updated Remote app for iTunes and Apple TV! One of the first apps in the App Store at launch, the latest update for Remote [free - iTunes link] turbo charges the cool factor with support for gesture-based Apple TV control. Very slick:
Hold down “Menu” to bring up main menu. Swipe to move around.
Tap to play or pause music or video.
Drag left or right and hold to rewind or fast-forward music.
Flick left or right for previous or next music track.
Flick left or right or drag and hold to rewind or fast-forward video.
Flick down to show chapter markers, then flick left or right to skip through video.
Drag two fingers left for 10 second reply.
Tap “Exit” or “Options” for those actions.
If you hit exit, you get similar functions, art display, etc. to the previous version of the Remote app. Hitting Options brings up a new overlay menu on the Apple TV. Speaking of which…
The new Apple Remote app’s gesture features require iPhone 3.0 and the latest Apple TV software update, also released today (which seems to have gotten a UI over haul as well). Get that, or you won’t get the nifty new interface.
We all know Google isn’t a search engine company, they’re a company that makes googzillions of dollars monetizing search (and trying to monetize other things) via their AdSense advertising platform. For iPhones, this was previously constrained to the browser window of Mobile Safari (or Chrome Lite for Android users). Now, however, the Official Google Blog announces:
AdSense for Mobile Applications allows developers to earn revenue by displaying text and image ads in their iPhone and Android applications. For our beta launch, we’ve created a site where developers can learn more about the AdSense for Mobile Applications program, see answers to frequently asked questions and sign up to participate in our beta. Advertisers can also learn about the benefits of advertising in mobile applications.
Advertising lets Google and others supply lots of free services to users. Will it be as successful embedded in apps as it is in the browser? Developers, are you interested in Google AdSense monetizing your apps? Users, would you put up with Google advertising if it meant cheap or free apps?
A few days ago we mentioned Gokivo + Yahoo! Maps had made it into the App Store. Now it’s joined by:
AT&T Navigator [free - iTunes Link] provides an iPhone front end to AT&T’s $9.99/month subscription service.
MobileNavigator Europe ($94.99 – iTunes link) features Reality View Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode component as well as the opportunity, to show POIs along the route. (See YouTube for the gist)
What’s interesting from a user-perspective is the ranger of options we’ll likely be seeing: either free or $0.99 up front and ongoing subscriptions, or more expensive up front (will $100 be the price point?) and no subscriptions — though will we have to wonder about charges for updated maps eventually?
Still waiting for its turn to get into the slow-moving App Store, IM+ is ready with version 3.1 which adds support for iPhone 3.0 Push Notifications. Text alerts, badges, and sounds are all supported, and can be individually enabled or disabled both through Apple’s Notifications Settings panel.
IM+ supports a ton of services, including Skype, AOL, MSN, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo!, Google Talk, Jabber, ICQ, and MySpace. Testing it with AOL proved to be a quick, clean experience, with IM+ launching and re-connecting to their server in a brisk and snappy manner on an iPhone 3GS. Copy and Paste also worked well, albeit it only in the text input box (I couldn’t find a way to select or copy text from previous chat bubbles).
Hopefully Apple will approve IM+ 3.1 with Push for the App Store soon. In the meantime, you can take advantage of sale pricing on the previous version, 3.0 (which pushed via re-direct to email). $5.99 via iTunes.
If you get your push on, tell us how it works for you, and what if any tweaks you make to the push settings to control your level of interruption. And if you notice more push apps going live, let us know!
While I don’t have anywhere near the midichlorians Jeremy has for all things Jailbreak, I can tell when the infamous iPhone Dev-Team has their game on:
redsn0w is an easy to use, multi-platform, multi-device jailbreaking and unlocking (iPhone 2G only) tool for the iPhone 2G (original iPhone), the iPhone 3G (but not the 3GS) and also the iPod touch (first and second generation). Currently it is available for Windows and Mac OS X (there are some issues using redsn0w with OS X PPC, please use an Intel Mac until we have this problem resolved).
They point out that that redsn0w provides similar functionality to Quickpwn, and provide more instructions in their full post.
As always, experts only and proceed completely at your own risk. If you don’t understand something — put your iPhone down and back away slowly!
