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Get Your Tickets With Tiggits!

Guest Author ∙ Updated February 15, 2018

Is the concert to your favorite musical artist sold out? Or maybe you HAVE to go to this week's NFL game but all of the tickets are gone. Well, a new app called Tiggits [iTunes link] allows to purchase those tickets right on your iPhone.

Just so that there is no misunderstanding, Tiggits is a ticket RESELLER. That means you are probably not going to get the face value of the ticket. This service is for those who are willing to pay the extra money for tickets and were either unwilling or unable to stand in line when the tickets initially went on sale.

The best way to find tickets in your area is to do a search. You can search for a city, venue or performer. I just typed in Honolulu and chose whether I wanted to see a concert, sporting event, theater event or "other." The screenshot posted is the Gloria Estefan concert at the Neal Blaisdell Center next January. The one thing I immediately noticed is that there are almost no single tickets sold. They usually come in pairs or larger. You can also browse the Top 25 events in each category and there is a "Featured" section.

The way you pay for your tickets is with a credit card. Here's a screenshot of the billing page:

Look toward the bottom of the page and you will see "Secure Page: SSL-encrypted." This is important ANY time you make a credit card purchase over the internet to make sure no one other than the merchant sees your credit card number. I, personally, cannot vouch for the security of this service as I have not used it. This review is not an endorsement of the service, but rather an overview of the app.

Tiggits also gives you a coupon code to save 5% on your ticket purchases, which is good incentive to download this app.

Before using this app, make sure you carefully read all the terms and policies. All sales are final and there is no refunds, exchanges or cancellations. However, if the event is postponed tickets will be honored for the rescheduled date.

The iPhone will get Flash…

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Flash needs to be on the iPhone. Adobe knows it, Apple knows it, we know it. Due to Flash's many integrations on the Internet from advertisements to games and even full blown web sites, people are craving this functionality on their iPhone everywhere and a quick search on Twitter shows you what I am talking about. Not to mention it flys in the face of Apple's own statements that Mobile Safari browses "the true web" as it most certainly does not without Flash, Java and Active-X support.

The Good News, Flash streaming video is close ...

Streaming flash video for example can be interpreted by iMobile Cinema but it is only available for 1.x version firmware at the moment. According to the website the 2.x firmware version is in the works. Can't wait for this to be a reality as it is the main reason I want flash to perform on my phone.

Many sites are also offering iPhone friendly video now as they realize the political lockout of the Flash player may take a while to get resolved.

The Bad News, Wired says it will never happen ...

If you read the doom and gloom article over at Wired you may agree with them and give up hope.

Personally, I think they are dead wrong because hackers or 3rd party developers will address the solution if Apple does not. My prediction is that a jailbreak version of the Flash player shows up mid-next year at the latest. Can't wait.

iPhone Works With Toddlers Too

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

Adam's Game [iTunes Link] is just amazing. I love simple apps, I love apps that needs no explanation, I love apps that you can make your own, but this one simply tops it all... provided you are one year old or younger.

A voice asks you to point at one of three figures; if you do so a cheering noise congratulates you; otherwise you have a nice “Hu-ho”, not so praising, but not too negative either. Anyone old enough to buy an iPhone might find it limited — but who said children have short attention span?

How do I know it is so great? I am a single, toddler-hater with no nephew-turned-tester at hand. I saw the app, didn't really paid attention at first, but like Joe Biden I do take the train often, and unlike him, I'm always seated next to the nastiest one-toothed ear-drump-blaster-of-a-child that starts yelling for no reason. Thank you 3G, I had the app up and running in no time. The best dollar spent in my life, I'd say. I'm not sure my headset was his size, though.

Adam's Game is fully customizable, so all of you overworked parents can let your better half share his or her iPhone with the little wonder, with your voice on it. I know this might sound like a detail, but many workaholic might end up being slightly better parents with that.

The only problem: you might want to use bactericide swipe on your phone after that. And a solid casing: gravity is still an fascinating experimental interest at that age.

Compare Apps Popularity Side By Side

Guest Author ∙ November 26, 2008

Mybefia is a great, simple service that allows you to compare how popular are three iPhone Applications, based on Ranking, Popularity and Market share. If a new application is still less popular than an incumbent, but gaining popularity, you'll see it there.

The service does not publish download figures, but stores top-downloads rankings every day and offers an easy-to-read summary.

Plus: Win a 50$ prize! If you manage to find out what “Mybefia” stands for, you can win a iTunes voucher. My take? It's either an acronym for My Best Estimation of how Fantastic this iPhone App is — or a Japanese word. As I don't speak Japanese, I'll go with the acronym.

Take Better Night Pictures With Night Camera

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Ever since the iPhone came out in June 2007, one of the main criticisms of its hardware is the less-than-impressive specs of its camera. These days, a 2 megapixel camera with no auto-focus or flash doesn't cut it for a smartphone. Pictures taken at night or in low-light especially suffers from blurs, despite my best efforts to hold it still, like in this photo:

The app Night Camera [iTunes link] helps with this specific problem. The program uses the accelerometer to figure out if you're holding your iPhone steady enough to take a picture. When it knows the iPhone is steady, it automatically takes a picture. Check out the result:

For only $.99, night pictures and pictures in low-light are greatly improved. I also think this is one of the most useful and innovative ways to use the iPhone's accelerometer. Just keep in mind that this program does not fix the iPhone's deficiencies which could be rectified with flash or auto-focus. Still, for a buck's upgrade and as an avid iPhone photographer, this app is well worth it.

For all your presentations, Pointer is what you need

Guest Author ∙ Updated February 5, 2016

As an academic, I've been using presentation software intensively and had my share of panicked presenters, unprepared seminars and lame conference keynotes. But I also had my share of clumsy moments when I needed to be both next to the main screen and to click on my laptop because my clicker wouldn't work at the last minute. No more, thanks to Pointer ($.99) or Stage Hand ($7.99).

Neither will prepare your presentation for you, or protect you against really annoying questions from the audience; it will not make that d*mn beamer work, but it will turn your iPhone into the most convenient clicker you've ever had.

Your phone is always near you. You can jump to any slide. You can see notes. It just works.

Both can walk you through both PowerPoint and Keynote presentation, using the Wifi connexion of your MacBook. Both can double as rough track-pad, even outside of a presentation. Both need you to download and install a local applet beforehand, and I recommend that you set everything up before you start. Although the software works right away, there are some tweaking to do with multiple screens parameters in your Preference panel. Both have similar options: clicking sound, typeface size, jump to a given slide, highlight color.

Beside the price, there is little difference: Stage Hand has a convenient Wifi meter and a “Slide mode” where you can slide to switch to the next slide, and —more importantly— where your iPhone screen shows the actual slides of your presentation (current slide or Keynote's Presenter Display).

Doom on your iPhone

Guest Author ∙ Updated November 12, 2018

Cube [iTunes Link] is an adaptation of Doom to the iPhone, developed by fernLigthening [iTunes Link]. The controls are amazing: accelerometer for sight, aim and direction (there are the same); tap the corners to move, shoot, pause and go to the menu). Surprisingly enough it is free (so far) but we can expect a paying version with more levels coming.

The 3D engine (a projected 2D-height map, actually) is really fluid and the motion-response is great; just check this video demo:

A few bad points: many do not like the very sensitive point-and-shoot: being able to tap on the screen to shoot on that particular direction might have been easier—but I prefer to see the screeen at all times, as fernLightening has made possible. One thing however: do not try to play it in a car or even a train: you won't be able to aim, but more importantly, you will get sick. The motion-by-toggle has just the right setting that messes with your sense of balance.

Review: OrbLive

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

This review of the OrbLive [iTunes link] iPhone app is at least two weeks in the making. As soon as I saw OrbLive in the App Store, I knew it had to have it. OrbLive streams pictures, video, music and documents over your cellular or Wifi network. But, the REAL gem of the app is its ability to stream LIVE television! But, I had a couple of hurdles to overcome:

I did not have a cable television connection available for my computer. I did not have an MPEG-2 encoder that was compatible.

So, first I had to get a cable connection into my bedroom where my computer is. I went to Radio Shack and spent $50 for a really good 4-way splitter (yes, we have a bunch of TVs in the house) and a really long cable. That was the easy part.

Next, I went shopping for a new TV tuner card/MPEG-2 encoder. I decided to play it safe and get hardware I knew for sure is compatible with Orb, the PC desktop software that streams media to your iPhone. There was none in stock at the local stores, so I bought the WinTV-PVR USB2 off of eBay for $46. It's an external MPEG-2 encoder that can run more than $100.

After installing everything, I have to say that live streaming television iPhone through OrbLive is AWESOME! The picture doesn't looks as good as a digital copy of a movie on your iPod, but it's quite good for streaming TV over 3G and Wi-Fi.

Here's pictures I captured of live TV on my iPhone on 3G and Wi-Fi. Can you guess which is 3G and Wi-Fi?:

For the record, the top is Wi-Fi and the bottom is 3G. I have heard on message boards that the Wi-Fi picture used to look better but I cannot confirm that. Using EDGE for live television is not good at all.

To use OrbLive on the go, just make sure that your desktop PC running Orb is on. If you have an external encoder/tuner you need to make sure that is on as well. As far as I know, Orb does not make software for the Mac.

So, the money I spent on a cable connection, MPEG-2 encoder and a $9.99 app came out to a little more than $100. Was it worth it? I'd have to say that it's a resounding YES! But, like the MasterCard commercials, being able to watch your favorite live program on your iPhone when you're away from home is indeed PRICELESS.

Google Voice App finally out! Rohit’s Take On It…

Guest Author ∙ Updated July 6, 2017

Friday - an anxious wait for google voice app, Saturday - frustration over it not being out, Sunday - the big question whether apple is deliberately holding back the release, Late Monday - the revolutionary product from Google is finally out! This pretty much explains the Google Voice App wait saga. The long wait process was indeed killing and with every passing minute, the rumor that Apple would nip Google's cool voice app in the bud was annoying me. I couldn't help but remember the fate of netshare, podcaster, castcather and a galore of other apps which had to face the axe from Apple. But a voice in me kept whispering that Apple couldn’t be naive to just turn down the Google Giants voice app especially when they have Google CEO, Eric Schmidt as a board member. So despite the rumours that Apple had killed the Google Voice application, I carried on my wait with bated breath. Was it worth it? Oh Hell yeah!

Before I mention about its fascinating features, an important thing you need to know is that you won’t find the voice feature the moment you open the updated Google mobile app. It’s turned off by default so go into the settings option and there you will find a Voice search on/off button. Besides this you also get to decide whether you want contacts, previous searches and websites to be included in your Google search. Then ofcourse there is a gallery of various Google Apps which we all love. (Wish these Google apps launched in an inbuilt browser instead of safari!).

Leaving aside all the features which come packed with the app, the real icing on the cake without a shadow of doubt is the Voice feature. I was a little skeptical as to how effectively it would work but I was fascinated with its easy usage and almost spot on voice recognition capability. However, it may get annoying some times and also there is an issue of lag in the recognition process. But one cant deny the fact that this is a giant leap in voice search and Google will only make it better from here.

All said and done, this truly is a brilliant app which deserves to be on your iPhone!

The Best Free iPhone Weather App

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

The weather app that comes with your iPhone is usable, but it doesn't provide much information. Sometimes an icon doesn't tell you exactly what you can expect weather-wise. Heading into these autumn and, eventually, winter months we'll need more information about the weather.

Even with the advent of the App Store, there hasn't been a free weather app that just knocked my socks off. Perhaps I am a bit tougher to please than the average iPhone user because I have been a weather producer at the television station I work at.

Well, the must-have free weather app is finally here and it's no surprise that it was created by The Weather Channel [iTunes link]. It features the current conditions, an hourly forecast, a 36-hour forecast and a 10-day forecast. I really like the hourly forecast. Today, I see that the rain is going to start to pick up at around 6 p.m. Very useful.

The "Explore Map" option (pictured, above) features doppler radar, which shows you exactly where it is raining, snowing or both. Another extremely useful feature.

There's also an updated video of the forecast for the major city near your area. And finally, there's a "Severe Weather Alerts" tab. "The Weather Channel" can detect your location using your GPS if you allow it.

So, if you haven't bought a full-featured weather app already, get "The Weather Channel." It's free, and I highly recommend it.

Cipher Takes Me Back and Keeps Me Playing

Guest Author ∙ Updated February 15, 2018

When I was a kid, I loved doing the cryptogram puzzles in the puzzle magazines. My mom would buy them for me chock full of crosswords and word searches and other types of puzzles and I would always do all the cryptograms and hand the magazine off to my little sister.

For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, cryptograms are word puzzles where they give you an encoded phrase, idiom or quote. Then using a simple substitution cipher, you, letter by letter, translate the quote.

When I saw the new game, Cipher [iTunes Link] I thought cool. I downloaded it and couldn't stop playing for an hour.

The app starts you off with a tutorial where it gives you an easy two word phrase to start off with and gives you tips, like look for contractions, double letters, one letter words, etc.

They also supply Hints if you get stuck (I would never use them, honestly :)

The game supplies you with a six categories of phrases from Arts & Literature, Famous Quotes, History, Science and Technology, Sports, and Religion.

iPhone Firmware 2.2 on November 21st?

Guest Author ∙ Updated November 20, 2008

According to a rumor by iPhoneHellas, the new iPhone 2.2 firmware will be released on November 21st.

Some of the new features will include:

- New look for the Safari with the Google search bar now occupying its own space on the title bar (iPhone v2.2 beta1) - Add toggle On / Off to disable the auto-correction (iPhone v2.2 beta1). - 461 Japanese emoji icons (iPhone v2.2 beta1). - Support for new languages. - The Line-in audio is activated and can be used through the headphone jack. - Google Street View (iPhone v2.2 beta1). - Google Transit information - Routes public transport (iPhone v2.2 beta2). - Walking directions (iPhone v2.2 beta2). - Location sharing. - The sector ‘Categories’ now shows the icons of the applications instead of the list. - In each page of the application has been added by a button ‘Tell A Friend’ & ‘Report A Problem’. - Added the possibility of scoring the application when the user chooses to delete from the device (iPhone v2.2 beta2). - Added the possibility for direct downloading of podcasts from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (iPhone v2.2 beta2).

Now if only they would put a copy and paste feature in!