September 2009 Archives
In this collection of apps, you'll find tools for getting work done on the road, keeping in touch with coworkers, and getting quick information. Best of all, every app in this list is free.
That means you can try them out at no risk: keep the ones that help your business and delete the others. Your work is crucial, and a free iPhone app is a top-notch assistant.
Get the full story by Troy Dreier here at Datamation.com.
The iPhone maker's mobile app store continues to grow at a brisk pace despite some pushback over approval policies. Inventory is now up to 85,000 apps, serving more than 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users and over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program. Get the full story here at InternetNews.com.
Palm sought to enlist the aid of a USB standards group in its spat with Apple over iTunes syncing. Instead, the group sided with Apple. What's more, the USB-IF took issue with Palm's entire approach to music-syncing, which relies on the Pre mimicking the USB-IF Vendor ID Numbers used by the Apple iPod -- essentially enabling it to masquerade as an Apple device. Get the full story here at InternetNews.com.
Activation of MMS for the iPhone 3GS and 3G ends months of speculation over whether AT&T would make good on promises to deliver the feature.
Get the full story here at InternetNews.com.
Used to be you could easily exchange contact information between handhelds through an infrared connection. While, in some instances, you can still do this wirelessly over Bluetooth, to do so is often a hassle. Enter DubMeNow, which today added an instant-exchange feature to its DUB app for sharing business card information from an iPhone or BlackBerry.
Additional enhancements in the latest version of DUB include the ability to add a photo and social networking information to your contact data. It also now lets folks send a LinkedIn invitation with their contact info.
Called Locate, the new instant-exchange element of DUB allows smartphoners to exchange contact data--such as e-mail, phone, address, photo, etc. and links to their social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and more)--using their current location with the push of button.
Here's how Locate works:
When two people meet they open the DUB application and click the 'Locate' button. DUB will then locate both users and prompt them to exchange virtual business cards.
The other person's contact information is then automatically saved directly to their mobile address book. Once the exchange has been made, the contact's info always stays current, as DUB automatically updates a user's mobile address book anytime a person updates their information (new e-mail, phone, social network, etc.).
Below is a video showing how DUB works: To download DUB, which free, to a BlackBerry point your browser to m.dubmenow.com. To get it for the iPhone head over here at the iTunes App Store. A version of this app is available for Google Android-run phones as well.
AT&T announced it would finally deliver Multimedia messaging (MMS), the ability to send a picture or video via SMS, to the iPhone on September 25th. Well, the day is almost upon us and the carrier says it is still on track to roll out the feature nationwide.
The mobile operator posted the following announcement on its Facebook page yesterday:
AT&T MMS Update: We know you've been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready ...to download through iTunes. We'll provide the steps and all of the details you need right here at that time.With the release of iPhone OS 3.0 a couple of months ago, Apple did its part to enable MMS on the iPhone, be it two years after the release of the first model. AT&T expected to do the same this summer, but couldn't get its act together in time.
A common complaint about the iPhone is that the ringing volume is too low. Bigasoft promises to change that with an update to its program iPhone Ringtone Maker. With the software, the developer says you can now make and boost iPhone ringtone volume to any desired level. In addition, as before, the desktop application lets you make custom iPhone ringtones from your iTunes music or movie collection. iPhone Ringtone Maker is compatible with all versions of the iPhone and the newly released iTunes 9. Learn more about the $14.95 software, which is available for PC but not Mac, here.
Often a few unexpected bugs, along with a host of new features, follow with the release of a major upgrade to the iPhone's operating system. The latest, firmware 3.1, rolled out a couple of weeks ago, is no exception, it appears.
So, according to a number of iPhone users, iPhone OS 3.1 has had a negative effect on the iPhone's battery life. 24% of The iPhone Blog readers reported this as an issue after installing firmware 3.1, for example.
That same blog reports that a number of Apple discussion board users who've reported poor battery life after installing iPhone 3.1 have heard the AppleCare helpdesk, in an apparent effort to figure out what's causing the problem. Apple is asking them 11 questions in all.
Here is question number 10: "When you notice a power drop, does it seem to be a legitimate power drop, or rather an issue with the battery icon indicator?"
Perhaps Apple's questions will lead to a quick resolution to the problem?
Check out this link to see some tips on how users have resolved previous iPhone battery issues.
MacRumors notes that Apple has just launched three new iPhone commercials. Unlike other recent ads, which highlighted three apps, the latest commercials to be shown during primetime, feature six applications each. You can view the new TV ads now in Apple's iPhone ad gallery. See here for a list of the apps featured in each of the new ads--Dine, Nature, and Pass--the price for each application and a link to where you can download them.
Snapture, long available for jailbrokeN iPhones, is now officially available through the iTunes App Store. The app, which already has a user base of over 500,000 iPhone users, goes for $1.99 and can be downloaded here. It greatly enhances the iPhone's picture-taking capability by providing the following features:
-- QuickView (Picture-In-Picture)
-- QuickDelete
-- Multi-Touch Pinch and Pan Zoom (5x)
-- High Speed Multishot (x3 mode)
-- Easy Snap (Tap Anywhere to Take a Photo)
-- TouchZone Stability Control
-- Multiple Image Sizes
-- Level Aid
-- Auto/Manual Save
-- Tool Tips
Speaking with Wired, Snapture Labs CEO Bowie Gai explained how his company had to make the move from jailbreaker to legitimate developer, as doing both isn't allowed under Apple's developer agreement. Gai said, "No smart businesses would alienate any potential customers...If we had a choice, we'd go both App Store and Cydia," however.
Cydia is an app that allows iPhone and iPod touch users to download and install unofficial software. It basically serves as an alternative App Store for Apple's mobile devices.
Snapture is now number 24 on the App Store's Paid App list.
Witel's released a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) client that allows you to use the service to make and receive Voice over IP (VoIP) calls with an iPhone or iPod touch. The app, available for free from the iTunes App Store, lets users dial free Witel-to-Witel calls from any Wi-Fi hotspot, receive calls to a Witel phone number anywhere in the world at not cost, and make non-Witel phones in 48 countries for $19.99 per month.
While great for end users, Witel is an example of an pp that isn't going to make Apple's carriers partners, such as AT&T, happy, as it gives them an easy way to circumvent the cellular-wireless voice services of these companies, perhaps even giving folks an incentive to pass on the iPhone altogether. That's probably the bigger issue for mobile operators, since their subscribers must sign up for voice and data service anyway to even have an iPhone.
And, then again, you may be able to make VoIP calls from an iPod touch, but you still can't use one to take pictures or video. You need an iPhone for that; if you want an Apple device that has a camera capable of shooting both still and moving images. The new nano only supports the taking of pictures, not video.
The Witel app requires iPhone OS 2.1 or higher.
WidgetPad for iPhone is a platform to help developers create native applications (called widgets) using standard Web technologies such as HTML 5, CSS3 and JavaScript, and distribute them as stand-alone apps through the iTunes App Store. These program can leverage all of the iPhone's advanced hardware capabilities (GPS, accelerometer, compass, etc.).
According to company, which goes by the same name, WidgetPad promises to take the complexity out of creating native applications and eliminates the need to learn platform-specific API sets and tools.
The platform is available through the Web via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. It is also a collaborative, open-source environment that allows developers to share source code.
Features of WidgetPad for iPhone:
-- Editing: Source code editing for JavaScript, HTML 5 and CSS (with syntax highlighting).
-- Resource management: Uploading of various resources (image, sound, and other JavaScript and CSS files) and project management.
-- Code Sharing and Forking: Automatic sharing of all public projects.
-- Secure cross-domain scripting: Easily create mash-up applications with existing Web services accessing Web-service APIs over the domain boundary securely.
-- Application previewing: Run the application on a PC/Mac browser without the iPhone (Safari compatible).
-- Publishing: Developers can choose to publish applications to iPhone either via a generic WidgetPad client (free), or as their own branded applications (free or paid).
The basic version of WidgetPad for iPhone is free. With it, developers can distribute their applications to iPhone users via a generic WidgetPad client (also free). The source code of those "public" applications will be automatically shared among other developers (MIT license).
The premium version of WidgetPad for iPhone, due later this year, allows developers to create "private" projects and distribute stand-alone applications to the Apple iTunes store.
In addition, upcoming versions of WidgetPad will enable developers to seamlessly port these applications to other smartphone platforms, such as the Palm Pre and Blackberry.
Tungle is a web-based calendar service--an accelerator, the company of the same name asserts--that integrates with Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Entourage for Mac. It allows for cross-platform and cross-company sharing and scheduling. With the recent launch of an iPhone app (available here for free), Tungle users can now create, send, receive meeting invitations, and cross-calendar share from their Apple smartphone.
The developer (also Tungle) introduced two features exclusive to the iPhone with the new App: auto-suggest and at-a-glance network availability.
With the latter, users can decide to send e-mails, SMS or place phone calls based on contacts' current availability. The app displays icons next to sharing contacts, telling users in one glance who is currently free or busy, according to their calendar.
As for the former( also referred to as 'shake to meet' by Tungle), when scheduling a meeting, users can overlay schedules of sharing contacts, and then tap "suggest" or simply shake the device to have the app automatically identify the next five best meeting times for all selected contacts. Auto-suggest isn't in this initial version of Tungle for the iPhone, unfortunately. It will be released as part of an upgrade, at no cost, by the end of this month.
Tungle recently partnered with IBM to build support for Lotus Notes, expected to be released later this fall.
MobileIron's management application for the iPhone is now available in the iTunes App Store. The software ties the iPhone into the start up's Virtual Smartphone Platform, which also supports RIM BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones, with Symbian and Android support to arrive soon.
The company's platform is a standalone virtualization product that attaches to an enterprise's infrastructure to provide data-driven device management and cost control. It does this by creating a central view of smartphone content, activity, and applications in the data center to give IT and end-users insight into usage, and control over security and cost.
For the iPhone specifically, the MobileIron App in the App Store enables IT managers to allow authorized iPhones to securely access enterprise resources based on user identity, proper iPhone security policy configuration, iPhone OS versions and iPhone models, according to the company.
It also enables the secure over-the-air configuration of both iPhone OS 3.0 and 3.1 devices using the Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol; ensures users have the most current iPhone security and configuration policies; and provide over-the-air remediation for out-of-date policies. MobileIron also allows IT to secure iPhones through password protection, as well as control content and app downloads on a user-by-user basis.
For end-users, the MobileIron App provides for the Automated self-enrollment and provisioning with user-specific configuration profiles and customized catalog of company-recommended apps. It also lets users monitor and record their network service quality in real-time.
To learn more about MobileIron and it mobile device management platform, check out our profile of the company.
Here's an app that could come in handy the next time you plan a trip, for business or otherwise, to the Middle East. Called Arabic Language Buddy (available here), the program is a speech-activated translator that enables live, interactive English to Arabic translation. Users can speak or type any English sentence, view the Arabic translation, and hear it played out loud, according to the developer, Sakhr Software.
Below is a list of Arabic Language Buddy features:
-- Accepts "free form" dictation of U.S. English, no user training needed
-- Translates into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
-- High accuracy translation, ranked #1 by U.S. government metrics and human evaluation
-- Translation displayed as Arabic script and English transliteration
-- Audio playback of Arabic
-- Optional keypad entry
-- Recent translations stored for easy access and practice
-- Supports iPhone 3.0x and iPod Touch (second generation) with external microphone
Arabic Language Buddy charges an initial $9.99 download fee for first 30 days of use. After 30 days, subscription renewals are priced at $49.99 per month for academic users and $149.99 per month for other users, with discounts for semester (students) and 1-year sign-up.
Sakhr also provides its bi-directional English <--> Arabic Mobile Speech-to-Speech Translator for enterprise users with broader communication requirements. Below is a video showing that app in action.
Concertimatic ($0.99, available here) is a new iPhone app that scans your iTunes playlists, remembers the bands you like, and then notifies you when they're playing in your area, or any area you are visiting. This produces a chronological list of concerts, tailored specifically for you and offers a range option from one to 200 miles. The app also directs you to where you can buy tickets and how to get to the venue a show is taking place. See below for a video showing Concertimatic in action.
Among eight peripherals announced by Kensington for mobile devices today is one that could prove useful to iPhone and iPod touch owners. It is a new back up battery for Apple's mobile devices called the Travel Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod touch. (See above picture for the accessory attached to an iPhone and below for an image of the charger by itself.)
Available for pre-order, the $69.99 device promises to greatly extend the time between for iPhone and iPod touch charges through its rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Not only that, the accessory also doubles as a kickstand for hands-free landscape viewing of movies and videos.
Here is a list of features:
-- Built-in dock connector to charge your iPhone and flip-out USB tip to recharge without cables.
-- Extends play time up to 23 hours music, up to 7 hours of video and up to 5 hours of talk time.
-- LED battery gauge displays remaining battery pack power level. -- All-in-one design; no cables needed.
In addition to all iPhone and iPod touch models, the device can charge the iPod nano (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th gen), iPod classic, iPod mini, iPod (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th gen), and iPod Classic.
Drivers do a lot they should do when driving. One of the deadliest is the phenomenon of texting while driving, which is when folks send and receive SMS messages while behind the wheel.
DriveSafe.ly is a text-to-speech app that promises make driving safer. The free program reads text messages and e-mails aloud and automatically responds without users touching their smartphone. Developed by iSpeech.org founder Heath Ahrens, DriveSafe.ly uses iSpeech.org software as a service (SaaS) to convert text into speech.
In addition to one-touch activation, DriveSafe.ly automatically sends off a response to every incoming e-mail and text, letting senders know that the recipient is driving and will respond upon arrival at his or her destination. Users can customize their auto response message and change it as often as desired.
You can download the application to a RIM Blackberry and Google Android-run smartphone here. Beta versions are also supposed to be available for Windows Mobile and the iPhone.
The FCC is in the process of investigating why Apple rejected Google Voice for the iPhone. Apple told the FCC in a letter last month that it did not reject Google Voice for inclusion in its iTunes App Store. Cupertino said it was "still pondering" the situation. Google, however, has a different story.
According to Google's letter to the FCC, Apple did in fact reject the application, however. The FCC published Google's full letter, at the search giant's request, to its site today.
Google's letter explains how Apple rejected Google Voice "because Apple believed the application duplicated the core functionality of the core dialer functionality of the iPhone. The Apple representatives indicated that the company did not want applications that could potentially replace such functionality."
In e-mail to The New York Times on Friday, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said, "We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter. Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google."
Hmmm. This could get interesting.
So what exactly is Google Voice (recently approved in one form Palm's Pre platform by the way)?
Well, Google Voice is a really cool free phone-management system that, among other things, provides you with a phone number that you can then channel all your other phone numbers (mobile, landline, work, etc.) through. You can add and remove phone numbers at will, which is very useful for folks like me who go through a lot of mobile handsets.
The service also automatically records and transcribes voice messages, can record and transcribe conversations, allows for 2-cent international calls, and enables you to send free text messages.
A browser-based edition of Google Voice for the iPhone provides the same functionality as the version Apple may have nixed (it depends which company you ask, apparently) for inclusion in the iPhone App Store.
Virtual keyboards, no matter how well designed, are not that easy use, especially for typing longer e-mails or documents. Even though I've become quite proficient at using the iPhone's, for example, it would be nice if I could pop on a hardware-based alternative every now and again. What's an iPhoner to do?
Enter iTwinge and its new eponymous QWERTY thumb-keyboard. Just slide the iPhone into the peripheral and you can start typing away as if Apple's smartphone was a BlackBerry. Check out the video below see an iTwinge in action.
In addition to a superior mob-e-mail and IT management experience, it is RIM's implementation of a keyboard in its smartphones that helped make them far-and-away the leaders in the enterprise and among mobile professionals. It is about time someone brought this experience to Apple's smartphone, even if it does seem a little bulky.
The concept behind iTwinge is nothing new. Devices like it go back to the earliest days of the PDA, let alone the smartphone. Why? Because nothing beats hardware, no matter how good the handwriting recognition or soft-keyboard.
See here to learn more, including how to order one. iTwinge is due to ship on November 19th.
PlaySafe is a $0.99 iPhone app (available here) that promises make listening to music while driving, well, safer. It does this by making it easier for users to control their iPhone or iPod touch. That's because the app replaces Apple's tiny on-screen controls with a giant button. You select what you want to hear before you start driving. PlaySafe automatically starts playing the album or playlist as soon as its launched. Tap anywhere to pause/play the music or swipe left or right to skip tracks.
Developers have high hopes for smartphone apps that overlay data on images of the real world. First up, iPhone 3GS and Android devices. Get the full story here at InternetNews.com.
InnoPath's just released a report covering the customer care landscape for more advanced mobile handsets. The company is a provider of over-the-air services to wireless carriers, The study, surveying 58 million mobile subscribers and thousands of customer care reps, found that support costs for advanced cell phones and smartphones--such as those running on the Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, and the iPhone platforms--are expected to balloon by 400 percent compared to the life of standard cell phone. InnoPath says mobile operators could save billions through over-their-air support. Get the full story here at PDAStreet.
Many iPhone users would happily jump to another carrier once AT&T's exclusivity deal with Apple ends. iSuppli's principal analyst Francis Sideco predicts this won't happen any time soon--contrary to much recent conventional thinking, which estimates Apple's agreement with AT&T will end by the middle of next year. Sideco writes:
Speculation is rife that Apple will end its exclusive U.S. iPhone service deal with AT&T when the current contract expires in June 2010 and begin to offer phones that work with the Verizon network. However, iSuppli doesn't believe this will be the case...The FCC investigation notwithstanding, Apple has no reason to move away from its highly successful exclusive deal with AT&T, which has already generated strong growth in iPhone sales and is expected to fuel a continued expansion in the coming years.
Sideco asserts there's no reason for Apple to add support for CDMA/EV-DO to its iPhone portfolio, as the number of GSM/HSPDA subscribers is expected to hit 1.4 billion by 2012. Verizon uses the competing CDMA/EV-DO standard. That should hit 305 million subscribers by 2013, far less than GSM/HSPDA.
I'm not sure sure about this one. All of Apple's leading competitors (e.g. RIM BlackBerry, Google with Android, Microsoft with Windows Mobile, Palm with webOS) support both cellular-wireless networking standards or plan to soon, sometimes both in the same handset. So why wouldn't Apple?
It would not be so difficult or expensive for Apple to swap out the iPhone's GSM/HSPDA radio for a CDMA/EV-DO one if it meant access to millions of more potential customers.
Bob Borchers, the face of the first iPhone guided tour, talks Steve Jobs and selling a $500 phone. Get the full story here at InternetNews.com.
It's all part of the plan to get Windows and Linux users loving pocket-size Apple gadgets - so they'll become "switchers" to more expensive items in the future. Get the ful story here at Datamation.com.
Courtesy of Datamation.com
I spent an hour or so tweeting about Apple's "It's only rock and roll " iPod event today. The event delivered on almost all counts. It even had a few surprises and, for some, a disappoinment or two. First of all, and perhaps most signifantly, Apple did a nice job of spreading out features among its new iPod lineup, which has been updated all around.
There's a faster and lower cost iPod Touch (with no camera), an iPod Classic with more storage, the 5th generation iPod nano with a shooter for video but not stills (?), a new more memory-rich iPod Shuffle, a free update to iPhone OS 3.1, and a major overhaul of iTunes in version 9.
Oh, by the way, while we didn't get the expected addition of The Beatles catalog to iTunes, which was remastered, Norah Jones did perform at the end of the event for attendees.
All of this news (and more) was delivered through the steady hands of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who made a triumphant return to public duty today. Jobs, who reiceved a liver transplant five months ago, quipped, "I'm vertical, I'm back at Apple and I'm loving every day of it," continuing "I'm very happy to be here, and thank you all."
"I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs," Jobs added. "I wouldn't be here without such generosity, so I hope all of us can be as generous and elect to be organ donors."
Below are some statstics Jobs and company set forth to help put today's annoucments in perspective. Taken indvidually and as whole they're pretty impressive, unheard of in the consumer electronics space.
Apple today accounts for 73.8% over the MP3 player market. Runner up SanDisk with its Sansa line is at 7.2%, Microsoft's Zune 1.1% and all others combined hold 17.9% of the market. To date, Apple's sold over 30 million iPhones and 220 million iPods. Of those iPods, the iPod touch accounts for 20 million and the iPod nano 100 million units. iTunes is far and way the number one music retailar in the world with over 8.5 billion songs sold. iTunes has over 100 million accounts linked to credit cards. And, last but not least, the App Store now contains over 75,000 apps.
iTunes 9
30K $1.29 ringtones now available from the four major record lables
Improved syncing
Home Sharing now lets you easily transfer songs, movies and TV shows to up to five computers in your home.
Tunes LP - to deliver an immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.
iTunes Extras - to provides a similar experience for movies on iTunes with features including documentaries, deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries.
Genius Mixes - using the results of over 27 million music libraries with over 54 billion songs that have been submitted and analyzed by Genius. The new Genius Mixes feature is like having a "Genius" DJ that automatically generates up to 12 endless mixes of songs from your iTunes library that go great together.
App Organization - you can now organize your iPhone apps right in iTunes on your computer and they will automatically appear on your iPhone with the same layout.
A Redesigned iTunes Store
Learn more about iTunes 9 here.
iPod nano
The fifth generation iPod nano is the first iPod to integrate a camera, mic and speaker. The camera is good for video but, it seems, not for still pictures. It is also the first iPod with a built-in FM radio, with live pause and iTunes Tagging, as well as a built-in pedometer.
It sports a 2.2-inch color display, a polished aluminum and glass enclosure, and is available in 8GB for $149 and a 16GB for $179 editions in nine colors, including silver, black, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, (PRODUCT) RED and pink.
Learn more about the new iPod nano here.
iPod touch
The latest edition of the iPod touch promises to be faster and more powerful than past versions thanks to a processor upgrade, OpenGL support, and iPhone OS 3.1. Still no camera or mic for this iPod, though.
Apple's lowered the price to $199 for the 8GB model, $299 for 32GB, and $399 at 54GB model. Existing iPod touch users can update to the latest iPhone OS 3.1 software for $4.95. iPod touch owners who already have the 3.0 software get the 3.1 software update for free, however.
Learn more about the new iPod nano here.
iPod Classic
The storage capacity of the current iPod model closed to the original is now back up to 160GB from 120GB. Presumably, it users a single platter hard drive unlike the previous 160GB iPod Classic model, which used a less stable dual-platter solution.
This iPod Classic 160GB goes for $249 and is available in silver and black. Whle the iPod Classic, to some surpise, survived Appple's iPod overhaul, it didn't get any new features (e.g. a camera or mic) other than the bump up in storage.
Learn more about the new iPod nano here.
iPod Shuffle
The iPod shuffle is now available in five colors. iPod shuffle's controls are located on the headphone cord, letting you navigatey music without even looking. With the press of a button, you can play, pause, adjust volume and switch playlists, plus the VoiceOver feature lets iPod shuffle speak song titles, artists and playlist names. A new 2GB model goes for $59 and a 4GB model for $79--and comes in silver, black, pink, blue and green. A special edition stainless steel version goes for $99.
Learn more about the new iPod Shuffle here.
iPhone OS 3.1
iPhone OS 3.1 gives you Genius recommendations for apps you might like based on those you've already downloaded; lets you download ringtones wirelessly; allows you to use iTunes on your computer to drag apps onto a virtual Home screens, then sync them to your iPhone; have iTunes create up to 12 playlists based on what's already in your library; and more:
Facebook reports that over 65 million of its 250 million active worldwide members actively access the social network regularly from a mobile device. That's more than three times the number, about 20 million, who did so at the beginning over the year.
I knew Facebook's mobile presence was big--after all, I access the social networking site while mobile more so than on the desktop--but not this big. In addition to a prominent place on iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones around the world, Facebook is working with others, such as Nokia, to do the same with other their devices and platforms.
In addition to standalone apps, Facebook offers a mobile version of its site here for people to access.
[via InformationWeek]
Apple may have not come up with the idea of Visual Voicmail, but -- as is often the case -- it sure made it an essential feature for smartphones since with the debut of the iPhone two years ago. To make Visual Voicemail special to iPhoners once again, Apple and AT&T are, according to Apple Insider sources, looking at ways to jazz it up for the carrier.
One of the proposed new settings for Visual Voicemail would allow users to disable their voicemail greeting (custom or AT&T standard). Another purported time saver would enable iPhone users to disable voicemail greetings and instructions when calling other AT&T subscribers.
One particularly welcome possible new feature (not Visual Voicemail-related mind you) would be for iPhone users to elect to receive alerts when they're about go over their minutes.
Supposedly these AT&T-specific enhancements could make it to the iPhone by the end of 2009.
The average iPhone user's spent $80 on applications for their smartphone. This according to a survey of 1,200 iPhoners by app discovery service AppsFire.
Of the 65 app average per iPhone, 65 percent of those downloaded were free, no surprise there. And, of the 65,000 apps currently available on the App Store, only 15,000 were cited in the survey.
Wow. That leaves, if the survey is accurate, 50,000 apps with little if any business and (likely) a lot of disapointed developers.
AppsFire estimates $3.3 billion has been spent on iPhone apps so far. Taking the Apple/developer split into consideration, that would mean about a billion dollars for the former and $2.3 billion divided by the latter.
I've spent a lot on iPhone software over the last couple of years. Then again, I always bought a lot applications for my mobile devices, going back to my first Palm over ten years ago. So it should not surprise me that, on average, other folks are doing the same at such an impressive clip--even with the thousands of free programs available for Apple's mobile devices.
I do find the figures cited in the survey kind of startling, though. Perhaps it is because the success Apple's had with the App Store, which it was not even planning on launching at first, is so unprecedented. (Remember the iPhone was only going to use Web Apps?)
It took the Palm OS library of apps, the largest until the iPhone, over a decade to reach its peak of 30 thousand or so applications. That number was achieved for a mobile platform that was (to the chagrin of a developers and a once loyal following that numbered in the millions) left out in the cold to slowly die as Palm twittled its thumbs before, eventually, slowly getting its act together with the webOS.
It took Apple and the its developer partners a little over a year to more than double what it took Palm over ten years to achieve. Now it is up to Apple to learn from Palm's mistakes, which it (and Palm, for that matter) seems to have done.
So, for instance, Apple's proven that it is as much about deliver as anything else. It made it easier than ever for users to try and download software, particularly on the iPhone itself over the air.
Sure, some may be unhappy about the lack of competition from other application storefronts ( a la PalmGear or Handango). But it is Apple's tight control of the App Store that (for good and ill) has led to the current mobile software explosion, exerpienced not just by iPhoner users but folks whose smartphones run on other platforms.
See here to learn more about AppsFire's survey and results.
Many a mobile professional has a soft spot for the Commodore 64. Released in 1982, the computer was one of the most popular home computers of its time. By today's standards, the Commodore 64 isn't much of desktop, however. Due to nostalgia, its games are still appealing to the millions of adults who used these computers as kids; hence, Apple's approval of a previously rejected Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone over the weekend. The emulator, developed Manomio. was--in another twist--pulled today. And, it appears, the app was removed from the App Store for the very same reason Apple rejected it in the first place.
While Apple didn't comment on why C64 (the name of the app) was pulled, the developer thinks it has to do with one particular feature, a BASIC interpreter (a possible security risk), it inadvertently included as a hidden 'feature' in the software. You enabled the BASIC interpreter in C64 by selecting "always show full keyboard" going to the Extra keyboard and hitting reset.
"Unfortunately, with all the submitting and changing we made for Apple, we inadvertently re-enabled the Reset button," said Manomio CTO Stuart Carnie, according to CNET. "And since all the games have a custom control panel, we completely missed the keyboard issue. I'm not sure how we can address this...It was actually quite a surprise that the release happened on Saturday."
Between Saturday and today, when C64 was taken down, Manomio sold over 7,000 copies of the $4.99 application.
Manomio's writes on its site that the problem's been fixed and it has once again re-submitted C64 to Apple for approval. We'll let you know what happens.
Yahoo today rolled out a trio of free smartphone applications: Yahoo Finance (available here), Yahoo Fantasy Football (available here), and a mobile edition of Flickr (available here). The first two apps are available for recent BlackBerry models as well. With Google and Microsoft getting much of the attention in the mobile world, it is good for Yahoo to every once a while remind folks that it has a portfolio of wireless tools for smartphone users as well. The new programs join the following Yahoo iPhone offerings at the iTunes App Store: the standard, general Yahoo app, Yahoo Messenger, and Inquisitor: Simple Web Search + New Search.
Tomorrow is a big day for Apple, as it is expected to make some significant product announcements and non-announcements at its much-heralded music event. We take quick look into our crystal ball below:
Expect Steve Jobs to at least make an appearance (to a standing ovation and much applause) if not the most important aspects of the presentation; Apple to launch at least one iPod (an iPod touch) with a camera, likely a 3.2 megapixel type; the possible discontinuation of the iPod Classic, although we still hold out hope that Apple will increase capacity of the music player instead; and a major update to iTunes with, perhaps, some added social networking features.
Don't expect to see the much rumored about Apple tablet computer, any serious news regarding the iPhone, or for the new iPod touches with the camera's to ship right away. Rumor has it they won't because of some technical difficulties that need to be overcome first.
And, since today saw the release of the remastered edition of whole Beatles catalog, perhaps Apple and Apple Corp. will see fit to finally add the much-loved and profitable music portfolio to iTunes. After all, they burried the hatchet last February, right?
Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray predicts Apple will have shipped 7 million iPhones by the time the current quarter ends on September 30th. That's a considerable increase from the 5.2 million units Apple and its carrier partners moved the preceding quarter.
The analyst attributes the increase in sales to the supply of iPhone 3Gs models finally meeting the demands of the market. Low supplies meant stores were guiding customers to purchase the less sort after $99 iPhone 3G over the newer (and more expensive) model, which is --according to the Munster--no longer the case.
"Our checks indicate store managers are increasingly recommending the 3GS, and we believe this is driven by improved availability of the 3GS at most AT&T stores," Munster wrote, according to Apple Insider. "Overall, the iPhone remains the best selling device and our August checks indicate the iPhone took share from BlackBerry, the Nokia E71x, and most other competitor products."
In a less optimistic--though historically justified--prediction Munster expects Apple's stock price will drop by a percent after its product announcements tomorrow.
MobileIron, a startup we profiled a month ago, today launched its Virtual Smartphone Platform. The solution is a standalone virtualization product that attaches to an enterprise's infrastructure to provide data-driven device management and cost control. It does this by creating a central view of smartphone content, activity, and applications in the data center to give IT and end-users insight into usage, and control over security and cost. The Virtual Smartphone Platform supports three of today's top mobile platforms--including Apple iPhone (see image), RIM BlackBerry, and Microsoft Windows Mobile--with Symbian and Android to come soon, according to the developer. MobileIron's investors include Norwest Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Storm Ventures.
iPhone app is available, all 1.2GB of the $99 program (see here), but the car kit that's supposed to go with it has been a no show so far. Well, a few days ago, TomTom released an official statement on the matter. A message in the FAQ of TomTom's Web site says:
The TomTom car kit availability was originally planned for this summer. But we have decided to take some extra weeks in order to deliver the highest quality on this innovative product. So, the car kit will become available this October on www.tomtom.com.
You can register your email address at here to find out when the kit is available.
What's cool about TomTom's solution is it is one of the first iPhone products (navigation or otherwise) to combine software and hardware--for charging, connect iPhone audio, and enhance GPS performance--the latter especially useful in areas where reception is limited.
Whether it'll do better than navigation software alone for the iPhone or standalone nav devices in general, including TomTom's own fleet of products, is anyone's guess at this point. I have a feeling it is going to be slow going, at least at first, as convenience (being able to leave your navigator in the car) and mobility aren't always the same thing.
Now here's an app that could prove useful to the thousands of iPhoners who also happen to be AAA members, especially should they be away on business in an area they're not familiar with when their car breaks down.
The free app (available here) leverages the iPhone's location-based GPS function to send your car's location, description, specific problem and other information directly to AAA for roadside assistance. Once request is submitted, the AAA member receives a confirmation when their info has been received.
The app includes a While You Are Waiting feature, so you can search for nearby AAA Approved Auto Repair shops, Hertz rental locations offering AAA member discounts, AAA Approved accommodations, AAA offices and retail locations with discounts on auto parts, etc. It displays the name, address, phone, distance, routing map, and driving directions for each result.
Notify Technology recently announced the upgrade of NotifyLink, a data access and mobile management solution for smartphones, to version 4.6.1. The update adds support for the iPhone 3GS and all iPhones and iPod touch devices upgraded to iPhone OS 3.0.
The company first extended support to the iPhone and iPod touch for NotifyLink a year ago. The solution provides wireless synchronization of e-mail and PIM (calendar and personal address book), global address lookup and remote wipe for Apple's mobile devices in a variety of enterprise environments. Supported platforms include Novell GroupWise, Sun Java Communications Suite, Oracle OCS and Beehive Suites, Google Premiere Apps, Mirapoint Messaging Server, Alt-N MDaemon, People Cubes Meeting Maker, and OpenText First Class.
New security settings brought into NotifyLink by the update include support for password strength, minimum password length, inactivity timeout and the wipe of an iPhone after a number of failed unlock attempts.
The upgrade also allows for meeting invitations to be initiated from the iPhone, contacts to be sent as e-mail attachments, existing calendar and contacts to be deleted or kept separately from those being synchronized from a person's business calendar and contacts, and an option to select which folders will automatically synchronize without having to open them on the iPhone.
NotifyLink comes in two flavors. There's the On-Premise version, a behind-the-firewall option for organizations that want to maintain and support their wireless e-mail and PIM synchronization on site, and NotifyLink On-Demand, a hosted off site edition of the service.
PCMag's Sascha Segan posted an article yesterday that does a good job outlining the options available (and limitations) of printing documents and pictures from an iPhone or iPod touch. While it isn't easy-and, as he points out, there isn't one good all-encompassing solution-it isn't impossible to print directly from one of Apple mobile devices.
It is just that the available solutions are either, as Segan points out: buggy, kludgey, or some combination of the two. Segan divides your print options into three categories: direct printing, shared printers, and helper apps.
So far there's is only one app, HP's free iPrint Photo, that allows you to print directly from your iPhone over Wi-Fi to a Wi-Fi-enabled printer or one that's attached to a Mac. Its feature set is pretty limited and it won't do you any good if you've got a printer that's not an HP, however.
There are more options (i.e iPrintApp, Air Sharing Pro) available to those who have a printer connected to a Mac with Printer Sharing enabled. Results from these apps varied considerably, with none serving as a perfect solution.
The last option, however, was the least appealing to Segan. These apps (i.e. EuroSmartz) require the installation of a separate app on a PC or Mac. You can then only print to printers attached to that computer and with the helper app up and running.
See here for the full overview of the options available for printing from an iPod touch or iPhone.
Well known VoIP service Vonage has been accepted and approved for admision into Apple's iTunes App Store. Will users be able to make calls over 3G or, like with Skype, only allow folks to make calls over Wi-Fi is yet to been seen. Either way, it can't make AT&T happy that apps like these--that so clearly compete with its core voice service--are being made available to iPhoners. Meanwhile, Vonage is currently look for folks to beta test its iPhone application. Vonage made the annoucment via twitter. Availability of Vonage for the iPhone will be announced at a later date.
[via The iPhone Blog]
HealthMap: Outbreaks Near Me (free, available here) is a new iPhone app that, as the name implies, tracks disease outbreaks in your neighborhood. It even includes news about the H1N1 influenza (swine flu)--the hot disease this year. You can search and browse outbreak reports on an interactive maps and set up alerts to notify you when one occurs in your vicinity. The app also lets you report an outbreak.
Multimedia messaging (MMS), the ability to send a picture or video via SMS, is a fairly standard feature for most smartphones and cellphones--not the iPhone, though. With the release of iPhone OS 3.0 this changed. But AT&T has yet to support MMS.
This will soon change.
The carrier just announced the long-awaited feature will finally make its way to the iPhone on September 25th. It blames the delay on network upgrades.
This may be frustrating but it isn't so farfetched, really. Even without MMS, AT&T's cell phone network has been having trouble supporting the data-usage load created by so many iPhone users out there accessing it for e-mail, video, web surfing, etc. far more frequently and intensely than other smartphone and cell phone users.
Here's what AT&T has to say:
We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We've been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches - and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.
We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone's multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.
We're riding the leading edge of smartphone growth that's resulted in an explosion of traffic over the AT&T network. Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond. The volume of smartphone data traffic the AT&T network is handling is unmatched in the wireless industry. We want you to know that we're working relentlessly to innovate and invest in our network to anticipate this growth in usage and to stay ahead of the anticipated growth in data demand, new devices and applications for years to come.
We thank you for your business and look forward to keeping you updated on our initiatives.
Let's hope AT&T follows MMS with support for another long-sort-after iPhone feature, tethering, which would allow iPhoners to use their iPhone as a conduit to the Internet for users' laptops.
Strategy Analytics finds that iPhone owners use their smartphone's Safari browser and e-mail the most. No surprise there. They use these features so much they're wreaking havoc on the capacity of AT&T's cell phone network.
Their least favorite features of the iPhone is its battery life (poor but fairly typical for devices with Wi-Fi and 3G in many ways) and camera quality (no flash and fairly low in megapixels by today's smartphone standards), according to the research firm.
To Strategy Analytics the love of email and Web surfing and the lack of battery life go hand in hand. "iPhone owners use more features on a regular basis than non-iPhone owners, with two-thirds browsing the web and sending personal emails daily-features which will considerably drain battery life," wrote Strategy Analytics senior user experience analyst Paul Brown.
To maintain loyalty Strategy Analytics concludes Apple must place an equal emphasis on the need for longer-lasting battery life as it does or increasing features and keeping the iPhone stylish.
To improve camera satisfaction right away we think Apple should try bringing the ability to take video to the iPhone 3G. There's no reason the hardware can't handle it. The only logical reason Apple may have left his feature out is to get folks to upgrade to the iPhone 3GS, which can take video.
See here for more on this report.
Ireland-based FancyFon has added support for the iPhone to its mobile device management platform. FancyFon Mobility Center is a centralized mobile device lifecycle management platform that enables enterprises to control a fleet of mobile phones in real-time and over the air from a single pane.
The service was already compatible with Symbian, RIM Blackberry, and Windows Mobile smartphones as well as Java-based feature phones.
The company says today's announcement means that its customers can now deliver security policies and certificates to iPhones, including password policies, application restrictions and advanced network configurations.
FancyFon Mobility Center users are now also able to remotely configure services such as Exchange (for corporate mail and calendar synchronization), e-mail and online calendar on their iPhone.
See here for more information.
Labor day will soon be upon us. For most students that means school is about to start up again. With that in mind, Sillicon Valley Insider's compiled a list of ten iPhone applications -- educational tools and reference guides -- it thinks every student should have in his or her backpack. Selected apps include iStudiez Pro ($2.99), AlgebraPrep Series ($2.99 each), Convert - The Unit Calculator ($0.99), Dictionary.com (free), MyHomework (free), The Chemical Touch Lite (free), Simplenote ($1.99), Amazon Kindle App (free), Free Language Tutors (free), Snood ($3.99). See here for descriptions, download links and screen shots.
Feeling like you're not doing your share to fight global warming and support the environment? No. Well, Carbon Pulse ($2.99, available here) is a new iPhone that promises to help you get back up on the going-green wagon.
The app promises to show you how your lifestyle is affecting the environment. It does this by, for example, estimating your carbon emissions based how you use your car. So it measures acceleration, distance and time driven during each trip as well as miles per gallon, then compares that estimate to that of the average U.S. driver.
It is also a source of green-related news, pushing updates to your iPhone as they arrive.
Sevenchord, the developer, sais it donates a portion of the proceeds from Carbon Pulse to clean energy projects.
Yes, the iPhone is expensive, and AT&T's monthly plans are among the highest around, but c'mon, look at all you get with it. Translated: free iPhone apps. We love 'em.
In fact, did you realize that many of the best ones are free? Here are our picks for the most useful free apps available.
Get the full story here at InternetNews.com
One analyst thinks it's a possibility -- along with Apple offering iTunes video subscriptions.
Get the full story here at InternetNews.com
