App Store, iPhone gaming, Apple in the enterprise, power saving pointers, ultimate accessories, and more. With Dieter, Chad, Brian, Rene, and special guest Box.net’s Sean Lindo. Listen in!
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[This is an iPhone blog App vs. App review! Last week, we ran our Shazam vs. Midomi showdown, with Midomi scoring the win. But which commenter won an iTunes gift certificate? Congratulations Patrick! Want your chance to win the winning app this week? Comment below!]
Ever used a laser pointer? Ever used a wireless mouse? Ever wish you could have both in one and more? Well, there are some apps on the iPhone that allow you to do just that! These devices work great! They turn the iPhone into a remote mouse with a virtual touch pad. You use your finger to control the mouse; left-click, right-click, scroll, it makes no difference! You can even create macros to automate launching applications! Let’s take a look at two of these apps: Air Mouse [iTunes Link] and Snatch [iTunes Link]
Michael Alvarez is the CEO of Avantar, the company behind iPhone applications like One Tap Movies, Showtimes, Calculator AXL, Yellow Pages, AirYell, and Munch. As part of TiPb’s ongoing interview series and our look at the iPhone App Store, Michael was good enough to discuss Avantar’s views on Apple’s new mobile platform, where it is, and where it’s going.
TiPb: Avantar has a wide range of apps on the market. Most appear to focus on quickly acquiring and succinctly displaying useful information like movie times, business listings, and restaurant options. What made Avantar choose these particular apps for your initial iPhone offerings?
The iSkin revo case for iPhone, available in the TiPb Store for $39.95, is designed for the iPhone 2G and is touted as offering maximum protection for your iPhone. With a broad landscape of cases to choose from, this one stands out from the others. It costs a bit more than most other cases, but is it worth the extra bucks? Read on for the full review!
Recently our friends at sister site TreoCentral pointed us to this snippet: Apple was seriously interested in purchasing Palm back in 1997. This is interesting for all sorts of reasons, but chief amongst them for me is this: Had the deal gone through, we might have seen the iPhone not only come to market earlier, but possibly seen it prevent other smartphone manufacturers (like RIM) from being able to compete. It’s an interesting ‘what could have been’ scenario: just as Apple was killing off their Newton line, it would pick up the Palm Pilot and add functionality to it at presumably a more rapid pace than Palm did.
It’s also notable that even back in 1997, the powers-that-be in Apple recognized that they would need to transition from a strictly-computer company to a consumer products company:
A perhaps little known fact: in the Summer of 1997, Steve Jobs called Eric Benhamou, 3Com’s CEO (the company owned Palm). “Give me the Palm and come and join my Board of Directors. Only Apple can make Palm a true consumer brand.” Nothing happened. Apple’s foray into the product segment had to wait ten more years.
Of course, neither Apple nor Palm were in a position to really get things moving quickly at that time. Palm would have to wait until their first (of many) convoluted ownership shakeups sorted itself out and Apple itself was still in the midst of redefining itself for the Steve Jobs era. The parallels between Palm now and Apple then are also fun to think about — both in dire need of a turnaround, both written off by much of the industry, and both have/had Jon Rubenstein playing a key role in revitalizing hardware.
I could go on and on playing “What If?” but instead there’s something else that this little snippet brings to mind: Palm got something right with the original Palm Pilot way back in 1997 and I really wish Apple would take a closer look at that 1997 tech.
Read on to find out what Palm got right way back in the mid to late 90s.
[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!
The iPhone 3G has plenty of case options that range from hard polycarbonate cases to soft rubber options, from colorful designs to more understated lines. The Marware Sport Grip for iPhone 3G ($19.95) is a soft rubber case that incorporates subtle design and offers superb protection. How does it perform?
Read on for the rest of the review!
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.
The BlueTrek Mini Bluetooth Headset is available in two flavors, “Chrome” and “Gun Metal”, and can be purchased at the TiPb Store for $59.95 here. There are a ton of different bluetooth headsets to choose from for your iPhone, so when you have such a wealth of choices and different prices, how does the BlueTrek Mini compare? I’ve been using the “Gun Metal” headset and let me tell you what I think after the break.
For most of us today, email is a major part of our lives. Whether it be for business or personal reasons, one thing we all look for in an email service, especially if we are paying for it, is reliability. So what if you’re not having the best of luck with Apple’s MobileMe service or any other IMAP alternatives? Maybe it’s time to consider a hosted Exchange account. Not familiar with Exchange? Then be sure to check out Rene’s excellent article from a while back, Walkthrough: Exchange ActiveSync On Your iPhone 2.0. That article can give you a great understanding of exactly how Exchange works on the iPhone.
Don’t have a corporate solution or your very own Exchange server, though? No problem! I’m going to be giving you some very reliable hosted Exchange services as well as some tips on getting it up and running for the flawless email you have been seeking!
More after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »
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