Yup, Kevin Rose is back, back again, this time with a sneak peak at Qik for the iPhone, the online video broadcasting App that everyone and their Twitter-feed was “going live” with on the Nokia N95 last year.
Not a jailbreak, but a real honest-to-Steveness App Store application, Kevin says it will be available soon. We say… will Apple approve it? And if they do, what will it say having internet broadcast video capability on a device that still lacks support for local video recording?
Who knows? As Dieter points out, Apple’s cagey approval/rejection process is still incomprehensible.
Qik looks to be One Sweet App, however, and we can’t wait for it to “go live.” Can you?
Want to get attention for your App? Innovative and drop dead gorgeous UI is one heckuva way to do it. Enter Weightbot from Tapbots. Killer mascot, even more interesting user experience. These are the kinds of high-polish Apps we’ve been waiting for (no pun intended!)
Anyone else pushing the iPhone envelope? Please let us know!
If you happened to miss our first Apps for Less, be sure to check it out for some great App Store deals! We here at TiPb are all about saving you money, so without further ado…
Arguably the top racing game available on the App Store, Raging Thunder, is now on sale for $3.99. That’s 50% off folks… not a deal to pass up if you enjoy your racers!
Ok, next up we have some good news for those of you who still have not bought a great little game called Spore! Spore has just dropped a few bucks to $7.99. Two bucks off is better than nothing right? Definitely check this one out people. You won’t regret it, and if you still need some more information on it be sure to check out Dieter’s full Spore for the iPhone review.
I’m one of the biggest South Park fans you will find, so anything related to South Park I love. Well South Park’s ImaginationLand is now on sale for $2.99! For all you fans out there, do not let this one pass you by! Also be sure to check out what else is coming to the App Store soon from South Park.
Seems to have been a slow week for price drops but the ones that did drop are quality apps. Be sure to pick them up for those sale prices! If we missed anything worth mentioning, please let us know in the comments!
Title says it all, and you know what? Good for Google. While the holier-than-geek community criticizes Apple’s admittedly adamantium grip on the iPhone App Store while raving about the “open platform” of Google’s Android, the harsh realities of internet existence — including malicious code and apps — means that no playground can be entirely free of adult supervision, lest it quickly degenerate into Lord of the Flies land. Says Computerworld (via Macrumors):
In the Android Market terms of service, Google expressly says that it might remotely remove an application from user phones. “Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement … in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion,” the terms, linked to from the phone, read.
Allowing all sorts of background and music/media Apps that Apple would never allow is a great move for consumers — and for putting competitive pressure on Apple to do likewise. Making sure they have some precautions in place, however, is a responsible move on Google’s part.
[This is a TiPb AT WORK App vs. App Review! Last week, it was the Instant Messenger Showdown, with BeeJiveIM squeaking out the victory. But which blog commenter won a copy of the winning IM App? mr. Hi-Definition Congratulations!
This week, the TiPb iPhone Forums voted on their favorite Task/To Do Apps, we took the top two, and now they're going head-to-head. But wait -- there's more! One of the forum voters has already won a copy of the winning App... Congrats coreymol! Want another chance to win? COMMENT BELOW! and make sure you leave a valid email address in the comment form -- it won't be made public, but it will be used to contact you if you win! Check out the full contest details, then grab your iPhone and get ready to get things done -- the TiPb AT WORK Task/Do To Showdown is on!]
I use my iPhone all the time. At work or play, it completes me. I have a few gripes (no sense beating the cut/copy/paste dead horse) – there are some glaring omissions that make it difficult for people to take the iPhone seriously for business or just everyday productivity.
Some kind of sync-able task or to-do list is such a basic feature, and fortunately, the advent of 3rd party apps have made it possible for developers to provide a plethora of apps to remedy this deficiency. The two apps that you folks in the forum picked for this TiPb AT WORK smackdown is Things and Appigo’s Todo. Users have given them both a 4-star rating in the App Store and, quite honestly, it’s a VERY close call to me.
Which of these two get-er-done apps are the best? How do they stack up? Read on!
Yet another iPhone related lawsuit only this time it does not involve Apple… shocking isn’t it?
Coors beer company is being sued by Hottrix, creators of the strangely popular iBeer app for a cool 12.5 million for copyright infringement. The lawsuit alleges that Coors copied its iPhone application iBeer. Both Hottrix’s App and Coors’ iPint simply create the illusion of beer being poured out when a user tilts the handset as if the user is drinking it. The only major difference between the two apps is that iBeer costs $3 and iPint was free – it has been pulled from the App Store by Apple.
More or less, the lawsuit claims that iBeer was a success until iPint quickly stole it’s thunder by being offered for free. Stop and think about this, both Apps were released on July 11th so how is one to determine who really came up with the idea? Hottrix answer, this youtube video that was released back in August of 2007.
Why someone would spend 3 bucks on such a App, I have no clue. But Coors… come on, talk about a blatant rip off. Hottrix, 12.5 million? Seriously?
Gizmodo brings word of what may be one of the higher profile, and more innovative Apps to hit the iTunes Store yet:
Developed by ambient pioneer Brian Eno and musician/software designer Peter Chilvers, Bloom explores uncharted territory in the realm of applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom’s innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen. A generative music player takes over when Bloom is left idle, creating an infinite selection of compositions and their accompanying visualisations.
I am the opposite of musical, so this one is beyond me, but if anyone out there gives this a whirl, please let us know how it goes!
MLB At Bat just announced a price cut that puts the price at a very affordable $2.99 (from $5) to get an impressive app with a slick interface and great features. Good deal, right? How thoughtful of you MLB to cut the price just in time for playoffs so us fans can get a taste of the action. WRONG.
Why is it a bad deal? Because you have to buy MLB At Bat again next year! The current version of MLB At Bat will expire after the end of the season which is in approximately the end of this month. Maybe even sooner. So if it’s worth it to you to spend money on an app that will be useless in a few weeks time, by golly do it! But for the rest of us, Sportacular should work fine.
Does anyone else think charging users every year is a little ridiculous? Maybe I’m still in shock over the 6th inning of the NLCS and a little peeved about this whole baseball thing but I just don’t find it good practice on MLB’s part-they need to highlight this aspect a little better. But maybe after Game 2, I’ll celebrate in utter jubilation by buying an app that will soon be worthless?
The MLB is again bungling this whole technology thing–remember they switched DRM for their videos back in 07 and users lost ALL previously purchased videos. DRM sucks but having things wrongfully taken away from you blows even more.
With the economic crunch harshening everyone’s mellow, we here at TiPb are all about saving money for our faithful readers! Every week we will bring to your attention a few apps from Apple’s Official App Store that are on sale or have dropped in price. Now keep in mind we have not tested all of these apps so we can not vouch on the quality of them all, but what we can promise you is we will weed out the poorly rated apps and only present to you the better ones.
The first app worth mentioning is Aqua Forest – Powered By Octaveengine Casual, has dropped in price to $0.00 from $7.99. This one is for a limited time only so go grab it!
A great game worth checking out, Enigmo, has just dropped $3 in price to $1.99. Definitely a app worth a look.
For the racing fans out there, Moto Chaser, is at a price that can not be beat at $.99 down from $4.99. GTS World Racing is now $2.99, down $5. Not too shabby. And both were recently featured in our App vs. App TiPb GRAND PRIX, so check out the reviews there!
iTip is nice to have handy while out to dinner, and it’s now FREE, not a bad price no?
We will keep an eye out for for more price drops worth mentioning and if we missed one, please let us know!
Update: Wide Email developer Patrick Barry comments below that, according to Macrumors, FOUR landscape email front-ends popped up on the App Store last night, including his own.
We are finally getting closer and closer to the perfect iPhone no? If Apple will not give it to us, 3rd party developers are our only hope. (Whether it is via jailbreaking or Apple’s official App Store.)
TouchType (iTunes Link) is a new app available now in the App Store for the low price of $.99 — a small price to pay for those of you just craving some landscape email action. Now all that is left is some SMS landscape love.
Here’s a brief overview of how it works: Open the application and you get a landscape mode keypad, get your email groove on, tap the send button and it automatically sends it to the email application. Type in the email addresses and you’re all set.
Is it ideal? That depends on you. It may be, may not be… but it is just one step closer to the perfection we all seek.
[Rene: And if you're asking how this slipped by the Apple rejection police when MailWrangler got given the boot... Our guess is Apple is fine with an App handing off text to MobileMail to send, just not doing the sending/receiving themselves...]
