Month: November 2008

i.TV gets an update. Now allows you to manage your Netflix queue

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

One of my favorite apps, i.TV got an update earlier today and it now allows you to add movies and manage your Netflix queue.

Here’s what is new with this update:

NetFlix

Search results now include over 100,000 DVD titles from Netflix, in addition to TV programs, in-theater movies and detailed show information and cast lists. Discover Netflix DVD titles by tapping the ‘Watch’ button from any TV or movie details screen. Easily reorder or delete items in your Netflix queue from within the My Media tab. Add movies and TV episodes to your Netflix instant watching queue, allowing you to instantly stream content to your Windows PC, Xbox 360, Roku box, TiVo® Series3, TiVo HD, or TiVo HD XL digital video recorders and select Blu-Ray players. (Mac support by end of 2008).

Wikipedia

Wikipedia articles now linked to most show, movie and actor screens.

TV Listings Improvements

Many new TV service providers added Over The Air digital sub channels now available Indicator when a show is NEW Display option to show only NEW programming

Movie and Theater Improvements

Movies can be displayed alphabetically, by star rating, by content rating, and now by location. Use device location services to find movies and theaters near your current location. Movie and theater data is now separate from TV listing data, allowing you to specify a different location for your theater and movie listings. Trailer quality improvements

Other Improvements

Reviews now easier to navigate Simplified account creation Bug fixes and performance improvements

i.TV [iTunes Link] is still free and still one of the best TV apps out there, if not the best. Give it a try!

iPhone Theme Generator

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 5, 2016

New website iPhone Theme Generator does exactly what its name tells you: it allows you to create your own iPhone theme, in just a few clicks. Simply choose your wallpaper, dock and status bar from a library or upload your own. You also have the ability to choose your own icons.

Once you're done, click "Compile Theme" and it will generate a download link. Download the zip file, unzip it and install the theme through SSH or using iPhoneBrowser.

I think this website has great potential, expecially for theme freaks like me that love to create their own.

iPhone Video Projector Coming Soon… This Time It’s Official!

Sébastien Page ∙ November 11, 2008

We've had our share of rumors and hopes about a mini projector to work with your iPhone or iPod Touch but it seems that something is officially on its way. Engadget reports that Texas Instruments' DLP Pico Projector will launch on December 1st for sale in Apple Stores in Japan. The miniature projector allows you to display a 60-inch 480x320 video image from up to 8.5 feet away.

David Pogue of the NY Times reviewed the device and seems to love it:

You’d have to be a jaded gizmophile indeed not to be impressed the first time you turn on this tiny, shiny black box. In the center of the short end, there’s a very bright light-emitting-diode lamp. Inside, there’s a miniaturized Texas Instruments digital-light-processing (D.L.P.) chip, similar in principle to the ones that drive some full-size HDTV sets. Together, they produce an astonishingly bright, clear, vivid video or still image. That’s right -- from a projector you’ve pulled from your jeans pocket.

The DLP Pico Projector will be priced at about $500 in Japan and there is no word of when this long-awaited device will be available in the US.

gFlash+ iPhone Flash Card Solution Turns more than Cards

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 15, 2018

Well, since I haven't quite figured out how to make money being a gadget nerd, I'm forced to keep my day job. Unfortunately for me, that day job requires that I be up to date on all state-required licenses, and wouldn't you know it, its time for renewal. So with a week or so before exam date, I'm given study material and some time off.

"I'm screwed," I thought, staring at the 300 page study guide with intimidation. After about half an hour of highlighting the same sentence over and over, my trusty iPhone came to the rescue. To the App Store! I knew I had come across a flash card application on there that might be just what I needed to keep focused. Sure enough, gWhiz mobile's gFlash+ [iTunes Link] showed up in my search and better yet, was available for free.

The application is about as simple as it gets. It comes with 3 sample topics, showing off the app's ability to offer flash cards in standard Q&A form, True or False form, and even multiple choice. After browsing the small catalog of flash card topics, it was obvious I was going to have to make my own. This is also fairly simple, as long as you have some sort of google account (iGoogle, Gmail, documents, etc.) because the program depends upon google documents' spreadsheet application. Here you put your question in column A, and your answer directly beside it in column B, and this will make up the front and back of your flash card.

After making all your flash cards, you'll need to download them onto your iPhone. I know it seems like I'm being repetitive but this, too, is extremely simple. From the main menu you choose the 'download your own data' option, and after a quick google sign in (you'll only have to do this once), you're looking at all downloadable data in your google documents folder. Of course, you'll select the spreadsheet you just devised, and it'll take a second to download.

I myself made about 100 flash cards of vocabulary words and definitions. The first card shows up with the word, and after I answer, I touch the card to turn it over and reveal the correct answer. The program does keep track of your progress by allowing you to press a check mark or an x depending on if you got the questions right or not. It is optional for you to have your total correct answers display at the top of the screen.

Over all this program is extremely functional and easy to use, it definitely served its purpose. I can study anywhere, anytime I want. I can do a few vocab words, or the whole 100, it's fantastic. As an iPhone application, though, it's held to high standards. The GUI could be dressed up a bit, and if anyone from gWhiz is listening, how about a full screen view, with actual note card backgrounds. And as long as we're throwing out ideas here, how about voice recognition ability that can tell if you answered correctly or not. Well, for now, let's just work on making this software more reliable.

Anyone who has read my reviews in the past, knows how much I hate crashing, and this one tended to do it more than I wanted it to. But gFlash+ is nonetheless great at what it does, and it has helped me out tremendously, being able to take my studying with me wherever I go. A note should also be made that this software is also available for blackberry/treo phones, and while not as cool as the 3G, it enables my co workers to download my license exam review from the gWhiz website for their cell phones. Guess who the most popular guy at the office is?

P.S.

Another hi tech studying tip is recording yourself reading material you have to study/remember with a recording app on your iPhone. Now when you go to sleep tonight, pop in your head phones, and put the recording you made earlier on loop. I'm not promising you'll wake up in the morning with a head full of knowledge, but at least you are increasing your exposure to the material. Thank you, thank you, hold your applause. ;op

That happened in the iPhone world today 11/10/08

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated July 6, 2017

PhotoArtist adds Photoshop-like effects via iPhone

Big Canvas has launched a new photo manipulation program through the App Store. PhotoArtist allows users to add Photoshop-like filters to an image, using an iPhone or iPod touch. Images are selected from an existing library, or in the case of the iPhone, photos from the onboard camera; there are currently six different filters, including illustration, watercolor, cartoon, mono, pen and halftone.

Mophie intros Juice Pack iPhone 3G battery extender

Mophie has introduced its latest accessory for the iPhone 3G, the Juice Pack 3G battery extender. The device features a lithium polymer battery that is claimed to offer an additional 350 hours of standby time, 6 hours of 3G talk time, 12 hours of 2G talk time, and 6-7 hours of internet use.

Apple Rejects CastCatcher 1.3 App for "Transferring Excessive Volumes of Data"

I think Apple's rejection of the latest update to CastCatcher—an internet radio app—is the first we've seen because it "transfer[s] excessive volumes of data over the cellular network." Interestingly, the current version, 1.2, is still in the store, and return7's co-founder, Amro Mousa, told us that CastCatcher 1.3 doesn't "use more bandwidth than prior versions (or any other streaming app)."

iPhoneize your website, instantly!

If you don't know anything about the iPhone, the MobileSafari browser, or web design in general, creating an iPhone version of your website can be daunting. Intersquash.com makes it easy. Just put in the address of your site's RSS feed, give it a name, and click iPhoneize. If you want, upload an icon. That's all you have to do: Intersquash gives you a little bit of code to paste into the body of your site, and it's magically optimized for iPhone viewing.

Richard|Solo 1800: More of everything!

We reported on the Richard|Solo Smart Backup Battery for iPhone a few months ago. Now Richard|Solo has released a much improved version of the Backup Battery that not only provides more power for your iPhone or iPod, but some excellent new features that trash the competition.

New iPhone ad series features wide range of apps

Another week, another Apple ad on TV -- a new entry in the series of iPhone commercials that have dropped the "This is how you enter the App Store" opening. Eagle-eyed readers have also noted that some of the new ads include a subtle "Sequence shortened" caption that reminds us things may go a bit slower in real life than they do on TV.

NPD reports iPhone was top US handset in Q3

There's word this morning that the NPD Group's latest research shows a surprising finish for the iPhone in the 3rd-quarter sales competition among US cellphones bought by consumers; for the first time in three years, there's a new top model. The Motorola RAZR, long the most popular handset for adult consumers, has fallen before the touchable juggernaut from Cupertino, CA.

Classics: The iPhone e-reader to rule them all?

The application comes with a dozen public-domain books ready for you to read: with more promised in future (free) updates. As you might expect, there's plenty of attention paid to the application's handling of your reading too: pressing home places a neat ribbon bookmark on the page you were reading, for example.

Group claims iPhone twice as reliable as BlackBerry

The iPhone is an extremely reliable smartphone, a study from a warranty extension company claims. SquareTrade says that within one year of ownership, the failure rate for the iPhone is just 5.6 percent; this is half the rate for Research in Motion's BlackBerry phones, and almost three times less than the 16.2 percent for Palm's Treo line.

Onyx Online Could Turn iPhones Into Nifty Social Gaming Devices

Onyx Online, for the iPhone, is kind of like Xbox Live. Sort of. The ambitious service is the brainchild of Trism developer Steve Demeter, who hopes to add a slew of "social media" features to iPhone games, like leaderboards, achievements, forums, and the like. There's even a pissing contest feature, wherein Onyx-enabled games will allow players to view each other's profiles, scores, challenge friends, and see what games people are playing. Like we said, just add a headset and some 15-year-old boys screaming "your gay" and you have Xbox Live (and no, there's no typo there— even when they scream it, they use the wrong spelling, just like in the forums).

Hey New York Times! Fix Your Stupid iPhone App

If you'll allow me, I'd like to unleash a small personal diatribe. I promise it'll be brief. But I've been suffering through the buggy pile of crap that is the New York Times iPhone app for long enough.

DIY iPhone Landscape Stand

Sébastien Page ∙ November 10, 2008

Inspired by Nathan Barry's iPhone alarm clock stand, gbzphoto decided to create his own DIY alarm clock stand. The result is pretty amazing. gbzphoto has more images on his Flickr account.

Blackberry facing the iPhone heat… again

Guest Author ∙ November 10, 2008

From my previous post many of you may think I am a Blackberry Basher. To be very frank, I personally have no grudge against it but from recent studies one can’t help but notice that the iPhone is indeed bashing Blackberry. First, the news of the iPhone hammering down Blackberry to gain second position in overall Smartphone market share, and then the iPhone giving Blackberry a run for its money by ranking number 1 in Business Satisfaction. Now the latest news is that even in the area of reliability, the iPhone stands out as the king of the ring.

According to recent research conducted by SquareTrade group, the Blackberry has twice the failure rate of an iPhone. iPhone's average failure rate is 5.6% as against Research in Motion's Blackberry which has a malfunction rate of 11.9%. The research was conducted by taking a sample of 15000 phones covered by company's policies. On spreading the projections over a period of two years the study says, an iPhone user can expect the failure rate to be 9-11%, on the other hand Blackberry user should be looking at a figure of 14.3%.

The iPhone fared well in the department of call quality and battery issues, with only 0.5% of iPhone batteries dying versus an approximate 1% for the rivals. The overall malfunction rate of the iPhone would have been even lower had it not been for touchscreen issues and accidental damage claims. This study clearly shows that the iPhone is proving out to be more than a pain to Blackberry as it’s facing the heat from all corners.

Apple’s pursuit for IBM’s Papermaster

Guest Author ∙ November 10, 2008

Apple, who was counting on ex-IBM exec Mark Papermaster's leadership skills to steer its iPod and the iPhone engineering teams will have to wait longer to have him on board. Before his decision to leap frog to Apple, Mr. Papermaster was vice president of IBM’s Blade Development unit which sells computers for corporate data centers. He has been the head of IBM’s technology department in the past and also has had access to company’s intellectual property for long.

Given this fact, IBM is worried that Papermaster would generously give away IBM's trade secrets to Apple. The company has expressed its indignation by taking the issue to the court and has sued him on the grounds of violating a contract in which he agreed not to work for IBM's competitor within a year of leaving his job. The result: a U.S district court has barred him from working at Apple for now. In the words of Judge Kenneth Karas, Papermaster "will immediately cease his employment with Apple Inc until further order".

As end consumers of Apple, this is bad news for us. We may have to face problems like delay in getting the cool new firmware updates for the iPhone that Apple comes up with from time to time. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and pray that this court order is lifted soon. At the end of the day, Apple's problem is our problem.

iPhone Bluetooth Making Progress

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

According to an iSpazio article there has been a significant breakthrough on unlocking the iPhone bluetooth. What does unlocking the iPhone bluetooth mean? It means that the iPhone will be able to detect other phones, and the other phones will be able to detect the iPhone.

According to the article, an iSpazio user named MeDevil, has been working on a project called The iPhone Bluetooth Project, to unlock the iPhone's bluetooth. So far they have made significant progress by an application developed by MeDevil, and the terminal. Using this application they were able to find two other devices a Sony Ericsson phone and an Hackintosh phone, from the iPhone.

MeDevil has provided images.

Apple’s very own Podcaster

Guest Author ∙ Updated March 9, 2016

We all know how the rejection of Podcaster (an application enabling direct download of podcasts onto the iPhone) by Apple created outrage in blogging circles. Apple justified the move by telling "Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes." The excuse was rather lame given that there are loads of applications which easily fall under the "duplicate" category and yet have been approved by Apple. Developers were rather flustered about the weird Apple policies which saw their hard work go down the dumps for no valid reason.

Now to add insult to injury to the Podcaster developers, Apple is coming up with its very own Podcaster like feature in the upcoming iPhone 2.2 firmware. Take a look at this screenshot of iPhone 2.2 firmware (BETA version) from Schimanke.com.

Once you click on the App Store button on your iPhone. You will be taken to a screen which will have the "podcast" option at the bottom apart from other typical options. You can click on the podcasts button to search for your favorite podcasts and download them right onto your iPhone. One can use either WIFI or their cellular data connection (3G, Edge). A provision for Video Podcast Downloads has also been made. However, the user will require WIFI connection as the 10 MB download limit per file applies even on the new firmware.

All in all, even if it stings the Podcaster developer, one has to agree that a good functionality has been included by Apple. So thanks to Apple’s very own Podcaster, we have one more reason to wait for the new 2.2 firmware.

Best BlackBerry Vs. Mighty iPhone

Guest Author ∙ November 7, 2008

We all know that gone are the days when people took pride flashing their Blackberry's. The coolest gadget worth flaunting off is undoubtedly the iPhone. No one understands this better than the folks at Blackberry. In their quest of coming up with the best ever Blackberry model which can defy the iPhone, they have released the latest Blackberry Bold 9000.

The latest Blackberry model comes packed with WiFi, 3G, GPS functionalities. Am I fascinated? Hell No! These are like basic functions on the iPhone. Next, it has a larger screen than the previous Blackberry models. As an iPhone user you sure wouldn’t envy that. The keyboard on the Blackberry Bold is smarter and much more convenient. I would say "Whatever". (Though I would like typing to be made easier on the iPhone, I am happy enough with the touch screen for now).

If these not-so-extraordinary features weren't enough, Blackberry also comes packed with a bundle of complications. For instance: you need to manually scan through WiFi connections available nearby to get hooked to the net and also manually set up email. We all know how you can breeze through these activities on an iPhone within a matter of seconds. Moreover, the iPhone has a way better browser, a potential of being future gaming powerhouse and of course an impeccable music player. Now the strongest reason why people would steer clear of latest Blackberry: it costs $100 more than the iPhone 3G.

All this makes the verdict loud and clear: even the Best Blackberry can't beat the Mighty iPhone 3G!

The Future of The iPhone

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

At the Web 2.0 Summit on Wednesday, AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega described what he believed is the future of the iPhone.

In response to TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington question, Ralph de la Vega announcement a long list of possible scenarios for the iPhone.

Before the iPhone wakes you up in the morning with its alarm clock, De la Vega says, it will have already loaded all of your daily news feeds onto the phone. It will also have already sent a wireless message to your coffee maker to get the coffee ready. While you’re sitting there drinking your coffee, he says, you might decide that you’d rather read your news on the TV screen; so with a wave of the device toward the TV, de la Vega says, you’ll send your news feeds wirelessly from the phone to the TV for reading.

Now you leave the house, and use your iPhone to lock the door on the way out. You get in the car. The iPhone starts your car. On the way to work, the iPhone continues reading your news to you using its text-to-speech function.

Later on, at your office, the iPhone initiates a conference call between you and two potential customers in Japan. On the call, when you speak English, the iPhone translates it to Japanese so that your potential customers can understand you. When they answer in Japanese, the iPhone converts their speech into English so you can understand them.

Now, who wouldn’t want a phone that could do all that?