First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way
Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Many intense hurricanes in the last five years have caused tremendous damage to the the Gulf Coast and eastern US, so interest in keeping a constant eye on tropical storms has definitely increased. Last August, TUAW covered AccuWeather’s tropical storm tracker for iPhone. While this information is part of the overall weather coverage available from AccuWeather, there’s a recently updated iPhone app that is focused solely at hurricane watchers.
The aptly-titled Hurricane (click opens iTunes) from Kitty Code, LLC is chock-full of hurricane data. Not only do you get up-to-the minute info on tropical storms gone bad, but you can also look at historical information and storm tracks for just about every storm that has been recorded since 1851.
Hurricane first appeared in the App Store in October of 2008, and a recent update has added many more features that will be useful when the 2009 National Weather Service Hurricane Season officially kicks off on June 1st. Click the Read More link to see the details.
Continue reading First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way
First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
First Look: Hurricane iPhone is heading your way originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Teach your iPhone to swear, take two
Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch
Erica Sadun has written an article over at Ars all about teaching your touchable pocket pal some nasty habits. If your language is generally more “explicit,” or you just have a need for the iPhone (or iPod Touch) to learn someone’s last name, then take heart, ye weary iPhone typists!
We previously covered TJ Luoma’s tip that involved adding a new contact whose name was a word that does not appear in the system dictionary; TJ has since updated the tip to note that you can include the target words outside the contact name and the approach still works. Erica has suggested a slightly different approach that does not require you to salt the address book with contact fluff. This is especially useful if you have young children or mothers who might happen to peruse your contacts.
The general assumption is that after correcting the auto-correct, the system will eventually add whatever it is you’re typing to the dictionary. As it turns out, not all apps are created equal in terms of updating the dictionary with new words. I won’t spoil the surprise, but I will tell you that the Notes app is not where you should conduct your keyboard-training session.
This excellent tip can also be used for teaching your tactile friend some less abrasive words that are not in the dictionary. Erica’s article walks through the procedure for updating the built-in dictionary on an iPhone or iPod Touch. If you happen to have jailbroken your device and installed SSH, she shows you how to directly access the dictionary. Hit the read link for the full scoop on how to update your dictionary with your off-color language or otherwise unique verbiage.
Teach your iPhone to swear, take two originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Teach your iPhone to swear, take two originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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BGR brings the pain: ten things wrong with the iPhone
Filed under: Bad Apple, iPhone
Yesterday’s Boy Genius Report post citing the top ten deficiencies of the iPhone (no copy & paste, no video recording, and more) has generated more than 100 responses, some suggesting a fix for many failings (jailbreak the phone) and others hopping on the Blackberry or Palm Pre bandwagons in the hope that competition for the iPhone will spur more software innovation from Apple. While the App Store may be the hottest thing since that soldering iron you accidentally left turned on that ignited your Dad’s workbench (and that’s why you’re not allowed in the garage anymore), even the sneakiest third-party developers can’t effectively replace what Apple has failed to provide.
Given the sense of pent-up frustration from some (but not all) iPhone 3G owners over a laundry list of things the phone doesn’t do, or doesn’t do well, here’s your chance to cheer or castigate Apple in the hopes of a brighter day to come. Vote in our poll and comment below with your top priorities for improvements — or, if you’re a happy camper, your favorite feature of today’s iPhone.
[via Smoking Apples/Twitter]
BGR brings the pain: ten things wrong with the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
BGR brings the pain: ten things wrong with the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ustream viewer makes it to app store just in time
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Freeware, Internet, iPhone, iPod touch
There has been quite a bit of excitement over the last few weeks with the announcement that Ustream would be offering a live video viewer so people could watch the Obama inauguration on their iPhones and iPod touches. It didn’t look like it was going to make it, but the free application [app store link] slipped into iTunes today with just hours to spare. While the Joost app should also allow streaming of the festivities, the Ustream viewer is unique because it allows live TV streams, and registered viewers can join a chat room creating a community around any video stream.
Video can be viewed horizontally or vertically, but many of the sources are not 16 by 9 so it won’t make a great deal of difference. The app appears to be WiFi only, which is a bit of a drag. My cell reception here in the wilds of Arizona is not too great, but I got an error message trying to run the video streaming under 3G.
With WiFi most of the channels looked pretty good. I even got a quick look at Chris Pirillo doing his live bit from his desk at home. The real test will be tomorrow with the swearing in ceremonies. It will be a good test of the Ustream distribution system.
Ustream wants lots of players out there, because they are creating a content network and are actively courting people who will create videos on their home computers and laptops. The firm says they will soon have an app that allows live streaming of video and audio from the iPhone, in the same vein as the Qik tool currently running on jailbroken phones. If so, that will be a very big game changer for the iPhone. The big question is, will Apple allow it into the app store?
Looking toward the future, Ustream will need more and better content deals, and streaming via the 3G network. Tonight is a great first step, and I expect by swearing-in time a lot of iPhones will be tuned in, if you’ll pardon the archaic term.
Here are some screen shots hot off the presses (thanks AppleUniverse):
Gallery: Ustream Screen shots
Ustream viewer makes it to app store just in time originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ustream viewer makes it to app store just in time originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Multi-Photo solves an iPhone problem
Filed under: Multimedia, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
For all the good things about the iPhone, there are still some troubling features that were left out (No, this isn’t a post about MMS or copy and paste).
One of the things I often find myself wanting to do is send an email containing multiple photos. As it is, the iPhone/ iPod touch doesn’t allow this, but now a 3rd party has solved the problem.
Enter Multi-Photo [App Store link] that gives you this functionality for US$.99. After a brief setup where you tell the app who your email provider is, a short test ensues and if everything is OK you’re ready to go.
You select your photos from your camera roll, add an email address or multiple addresses, and the pictures squirt out to your friends or family. In the app settings you can preset a subject line, as well as text for the body of your email, or just insert your own as you would in the regular email app. You can also select some quality options for the images you are sending, as well as determine the size of the image.
The app is pretty intuitive, and the publisher happily provides a built in video tutorial and a user manual. Unhappily, the first time I tried the video, it crashed about half way through, but it worked fine the next time. I didn’t think the way addresses are selected was as easy to figure out as I would have liked. You can type a recipient in manually, or grab it from your address book, but I had to give the interface a second glance to get that procedure right.
The look of the app is not quite to my taste. I think the wood grain background is a bit garish, but Multi-Photo does what it advertises and does it well. It solves a long standing issue with the iPhone and I can only wish Apple had included this in the iPhone feature set from the start.
Multi-Photo solves an iPhone problem originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Multi-Photo solves an iPhone problem originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Slotz Racer now in the App Store
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Deals, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Freeverse Games has released their latest iPhone title, Slotz Racer, and it looks like a good one (I’ve been having a good time lately with their bowling game as well). Despite the name, it’s not another tilt-to-turn racer — this one has you playing slot cars instead of real cars, those little cars and tracks that you got for a birthday once when you were a kid but have never actually had the patience to set up since. The game features a “unique” control system that even allows up to four people to play on one iPhone at a time, and the big draw here is a track editor — for a 99 cent introductory price (headed up to $2.99 in 72 hours, we’re told), you can assemble as many tracks as you like, and you don’t even have to buy any those gigantic boxes from KB Toys.
Looks like fun. Freeverse is only publishing here — the game is developed by a company named Strange Flavour and they’ve put a nice manual together, along with plenty of tips and tricks to try out. The game is available in the App Store right now for 99 cents, but as we said, the price is heading up to $3 soon (which is still cheap, really, but if you’re interested in the game, you might as well save two bucks now). Maybe this is your big chance to finally live your old slot car racing dreams out virtually on your iPhone or iPod touch.
Slotz Racer now in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Slotz Racer now in the App Store originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iControlPad gamepad heads to production, warms hearts
Apple’s claims that the iPhone is a console might carry a bit more weight if the thing had, you know, some physical inputs. Touchscreens and tilt sensors are great, but without at least a couple of buttons and a D-pad it’s kind of a hard sell to your average gamer. Inputs are exactly what the iControlPad case for the iPhone adds, and we’ve got confirmation that the thing is at long last heading to production. The pic above is the final prototype, set to be colored black upon release — and we presume those gaping holes will be filled with something other than air, too. No word on an anticipated ship date or price, but — great as it may be — without Apple support we don’t expect it’ll to do much to help the iPhone’s gaming cred anyhow.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Peripherals
iControlPad gamepad heads to production, warms hearts originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Student’s tech promises 12x the battery life in your iPhone, BlackBerry
Feeling the hurt of endlessly dying batteries on your BlackBerry (or iPhone, if that’s what you’re into)? Atif Shamim, a PhD student at Canada’s Carleton University might have the medicine for that pain of yours. He’s cleverly hacked such devices, removing all the wires that connect the electrical circuits to the antenna, and developed a module for the connection to operate wirelessly. The result, he estimates, is that his modified devices use almost 12 times less power than they normally do — which of course means longer battery life. A paper about the device has won an award at the European Wireless Technology Conference, and Shamin has filed for a patent in both the US and Canada. There’s no indication of when we might start to see tech like this on actual commercial devices, but we’re pretty sure plenty of companies are going to want to get a hold of this technology like, yesterday. Filed under: Cellphones
Student’s tech promises 12x the battery life in your iPhone, BlackBerry originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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mophie’s iPhone 3G Juice Pack unboxed and tested: high marks all around
Curious to know if your Benjamin will be well spent on mophie’s iPhone 3G Juice Pack? TestFreaks is out to make sure you have an accurate answer to that, and judging by their report after two solid weeks of usage, the response is an emphatic “yes.” Not only was the device sleek enough to not be incredibly cumbersome, but it actually performed as advertised. Reviewers were able to get their iPhone 3G from near-death to fully charged (twice!) on a single mophie charge, leading them to conclude that it “basically doubles the run time of the iPhone 3G” in a worse case scenario. Granted, even they couldn’t overlook the particularly large price tag, but if you’ve been running bone dry with any level of frequency, we suspect the asking price won’t matter nearly as much.
[Thanks, Kristofer]
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals
mophie’s iPhone 3G Juice Pack unboxed and tested: high marks all around originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Finding paths with Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
I’ve tried out two different “path” games this past week from the App Store. Both Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall have you navigating paths on the iPhone, both using the touchscreen a little differently to send items you don’t directly control around the screen.
Super Fruitfall is made by a developer called Universomo and published by our friends at THQ Wireless. It’s a relatively simple game — there is some fruit sitting on a rotateable field, and your job is to match the fruit up with others of its type. It’s amusing, in the way the old Labyrinth games were, but it’s frustrating in the same way, too.
Extra frustration enters the scene when too-sensitive controls cause you to flip the screen an extra turn, losing any patterns you had going. A “juice mode” makes the game a little more interesting by keeping the fruit flowing as you match it out, but at $3, the game’s a little too boring, unless you really love tilt puzzles. Personally, my outcome at the end of each level was brought about just as much by my randomly flipping the board around as it was any strategy I tried.
Chuck the Ball is a little more promising.
Continue reading Finding paths with Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall
Finding paths with Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Finding paths with Chuck the Ball and Super Fruitfall originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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