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Steve Jobs Lets UK Customer and the World Know That Apple Wont Support Google’s Picassa

Steven Finch — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:02:39 +0000

Steve Jobs has decided to let the world know that Apple wont be supporting Google’s Picassa any time soon.

Instead of just telling him that Apple (obviously) wouldn’t support Google’s Picassa library format, Jobs writes that iPhoto has a “much better Faces and Places features” than Picassa.

via 9to5mac

Apple’s Working on a New Social Location App Called iGroups

Steven Finch — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:53:17 +0000

Patently Apple has reported that Apple is currently working on their own location based service. Location is the buzz word at the moment and its great to see that Apple are looking to do something in house. The Apple social networking app is called iGroups.

The app is likely to tie in with your iPhone and MobileMe and will make it possible for groups of users to share information around events. Events could include concerts, tradeshows, conferences, business meetings, weddings etc..

This kind of service is likely to compete somewhat with Gowalla and Foursquare, but they seem to have the who geo-location gaming angle sorted out.

Interestingly, AppleInsider has also uncovered news that Apple is working on a Walkie Talkie like feature for use with the iPhone. The technology “could allow iPhone users to transmit data — such as simple text messages — to each other over voice channels, forgoing a reliance wireless carriers’ backend servers, in a manner similar to Nextel’s walkie-talkie feature.” This would fit neatly in with plans for a geolocation based group discussion service.

MOG Launches its Mobile Music Streaming App and Pricing at SXSW

Steven Finch — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:54:12 +0000

MOG the US streaming music service that is on the rise has just launched its mobile app for iPhone and Android at SXSW.

MOG’s current web service costs $5 a month, but users wanting access via mobile too will pay $10. The app includes local cacheing to listen to music when a user loses their connection. The apps will launch in the second quarter of this year, and CEO David Hyman has revealed that in the UK, the service will cost £5 and £10 without or with mobile access.

The pricing may have implications for Spotify’s upcoming US launch – in Europe it charges £9.99 / €9.99 a month for its premium service, including mobile access. Spotify boss Daniel Ek gives his SXSW keynote tonight…

Windows Phone 7 Apps

Steven Finch — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:30:20 +0000

Here is a quick look at the new Windows 7 Phone apps.

The phone itself will run a tiled interface, almost a cross between the app screens on the iPhone and the app elements on the Android. The big difference on the Windows 7 phone is that the tiles are live – they can show you content even while they sit there.

The first think you will notice is that there are only three buttons at the bottom of the phone. These are the standard buttons that work across the phone, namely back, search and home – the same functions as found on the Android phones.

The panoramic design is something we havent really seen much of, but it looks great. The design actually means that applications arent restricted by the screen szie and have potential to grow quite quickly and easily. This example from AP demonstrates the scale an app can achieve. This app is wide with the ability for the user to zoom into the particular bit they wish to focus on.

Apart from that location based services have really been thought about for the new Windows 7 phones and in general the graphics and feel of the phone are great.

Will the new range of Windows 7 phones really make people move from their current devices over? Im really not too sure. The phones look a million times better than the previous Windows mobile OS.

Paypal Upgrade Their iPhone App with Better User Interface and Bump Technology

Steven Finch — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:25:55 +0000

Paypal has just launched a major upgrdade to their iPhone application. New features have been added to the Paypal iPhone app as well as a facelift.

One of the new features includes a partnership with Bump Technologies which lets users exchange information and money by simply tapping their smartphones together. You can download the free app here.

Apple iPhone To Allow Multitask With OS 4.0

Steven Finch — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:10:18 +0000

The next iteration of Apple’s iPhone OS is set to finally take a big step towards making the smartphone more of a serious portable computing device, enabling users to switch between multiple apps running in tandem.

Lack of multitasking has been a long term issue with the Apple iPhone. It’s not that the iPhone can’t multitask – parts of the OS do this already – but that Apple won’t let the apps you download do it. There are plenty of reasons for such a restriction: memory concerns, lack of a convenient app-switching mechanic, battery consumption, preventing spyware.

It’s not yet clear just how Apple plans on addressing all those issues when it enable full-on multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, but the news that it has is sure to be well overdue for the growing number of mobile users who have eschewed their laptops for smartphones.

Apple isn’t breaking with its secretive reputation, so there’s no estimate at the moment of when we can expect the software to be released. Reports of its still having a lot of work to be completed indicate “later” rather than “sooner”. Hopefully we’ll hear some whispers of the anticipated date as it approaches.

Rate It All: Wants To Let Your Business Build Your Own Foursquare App

Steven Finch — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:38:06 +0000

RateItAll is going mobile. RateItAll is a review site for pretty much anything. RateItAll wants to help companies build their own location check-in services.

There are a number of different companies that may want to build their own customized version of Foursquare, but at the moment there isnt a great solution to do this.

To show off what RateItAll can do, the company has released an application called DoubleDutch (App Store link). It includes location check-ins, friending, stickers rewarding different types of user activity, and integration with Facebook and Twitter. Companies can add their own logos, stickers, and venue information, and they also get a tab within the application where they can add whatever they want.

RateItAll will charge a one-time setup fee for the apps, then make revenue sharing deals for advertising.

This move may seem like a big shift for a review website, but Coburn said the apps take advantage of the company’s database, so that they’re populated with locations and reviews. That should give RateItAll an advantage against other build-your-own-location-app services like Socialight. The apps also help build that database, since there’s an option to rate and review and location when you check-in.

Snowtape: Listen and Record From Online Radio Stations for Free

Steven Finch — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:30:13 +0000

Snowtape is a new Max OS X application that lets you easily find, listen to and record from online radio stations.

It’s like the combination radio/tape deck of the future! If you were fortunate enough to come of age in the age of the mp3, then just think of Snowtape as the awesome “record” button that iTunes doesn’t have.

Snowtape doesn’t just play and record, though. It also lets you name, tag and add album art to your recorded audio files, so they’ll fit right in with iTunes or your iPod. It has other perks, too, like the ability to schedule a recording using iCal, in case you’re worried about missing a favorite radio show. Snowtape makes discovering new favorites easier, too, by building in a directory of stations, and allowing users to add their own stations to the list.

If you need more proof that Snowtape is a really well-thought-out app, check out the integrated editing feature that lets you trim the beginning and end of your recordings. There’s even a companion iPhone app!

Rhapsody iPhone App Adds Offline Listening

Steven Finch — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:39:24 +0000

Listeners have been asking Rhapsody to add offline listening and now this has been added to their iPhone app. Their development team is getting close to submitting an updated app to Apple for approval.

A Rhapsody Android app will also leave private beta in the coming days and be available for download in the Android marketplace.

Stock Tweet App Tracks Twitter Stock Discussions Easily

Steven Finch — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:30:33 +0000

Stock traders are among the many groups of people who have taken up Twitter as a way to discuss their interests. They’ve even developed their own shorthand; a stock symbol is typically prefaced with a dollar sign, such as $MSFT, and tweets that discuss stocks often end with two dollar signs.

Stock Tweet App has taken these conventions and used them to build a custom interface for viewing Twitter with a scrolling live stream of all stock-related tweets. Alternatively, you can use the Custom Stock List option to type in the symbol for a few stocks you’re interested in tracking, and only tweets concerning those stocks will be shown.

Tap Tap Love: Bubble Wrap iPhone Game Rip Off

Steven Finch — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:15:00 +0000

We received a very interesting tweet today suggesting that we take a look at Tap Tap Love. Tap Tap Love is a new game on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Tap Tap Love is exactly the same as a previously popular game in the App Store, that game was Bubble Wrap.

Bubble Wrap and Tap Tap Love are games in which the user just tries to pop as many bubble or hearts as possible in an alotted time. Currently Tap Tap Love is priced at $0.99 and Im really not too sure they are going to sell many copies, especially when I can get Bubble Wrap for FREE!

Brizzly iPhone Application Is Now Available

Steven Finch — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:33:15 +0000

Brizzly, a web-based Twitter client that has much more features than the twitter website, is releasing its iPhone app.It includes few new features when compared to its web version.

This Brizzly iPhone app is simple in layout and incorporates features that are common among other twitter client for iPhone.This app can handle multiple accounts, supports lists, mentions and DMs etc. Links that you add gets shortened too. Altogether an app with all basic features one would expect it to deliver.

Feature of Brizzly for iPhone includes :

Brizzly Guide support with user-editable trends & news explanations
support for multiple Twitter accounts
lists (supports & syncs to Twitter lists, Brizzly.com)
upload photos to Brizzly Pics & Flickr
saved searches sync with Twitter & Brizzly.com
classic-style RTs
infinite scrolling
custom tabs
respects muting from Brizzly.com
geolocation sharing

Buzzie: Download Google Buzz Native iPhone App

Steven Finch — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:29:51 +0000

It seems to have taken an iPhone app developer ages to get the first native Google Buzz app out to the public.

Buzzie is currently selling for an introductory price of $1.99 during its first week run on the Apps Store, Buzzie lets yo do, well what you practically can do on the Google Buzz webapp. If you want to be specific about these features, it includes the following:

Receive messages from the people you follow
Comment on messages and mark them as liked
Browse all links and images attached to messages
Manage your followers
Browse the people following you
Find new people to follow
Check the places around you and buzz about them
Buzz from your phone, publicly or privately

It’s a simple, straight-out port of the Buzz webapp, so don’t expect too much from it. And besides, what can you possibly expect from an iPhone of the web’s latest noise maker?, I mean online communication tool.

Will you use Buzzie? Or is the Buzz webapp enough for your buzzing needs? If you want to get this app, here is its iTunes Link.

Foursquare About To Launch New iPhone Application

Steven Finch — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:09:07 +0000

Foursquare the location based social network game is just about to release a new version of their iPhone application. The new application will feature a revamped interface, a brand new user tab, and a new checkin history view.

This version of the app – v1.6 – should be heading to the App Store soon. Nick Starr shared screenshots of it with us and we’ve included a few below so that you can see some of the new features.

Looking at the images from Foursquare 1.6, the first thing you’ll notice is that the interface has been totally revamped. The colors, icons and menu layout are all completely restyled and rearranged in a much more appealing manner.

Opera Releases Native Opera Mini 5 App For Windows Mobile Phones

Steven Finch — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:27 +0000

This morning Opera announced that it has released a native version of Opera Mini 5 beta for handsets running Windows Mobile 5 and 6.

Interestingly, the new WinMo version of Opera Mini does not require Java. That basically means any Windows Mobile phone can accommodate the app.

Despite not requiring Java, Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile includes the same feature set as the Java-based version. That means features like tabbed browsing, speed dial, bookmarks and the password manager are built right in (also see video below).

To download, simply point your current mobile browser to m.opera.com/next.

PackLate: Get Last Minute Ski Holidays

Dean Sherwin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Skiing is a great holiday and there’s almost nowhere better in the world to do it than in the Rocky mountains along the west coast of the USA. PackLate is an online web app offering you discounted trips (focusing on the holiday type mentioned above although there are others) at the last minute. Here’s how it works.

The hotel manager notices he has a room empty. Rather than have it sitting idle and loosing revenue, he’ll list the room as available on this website at break-even price, or there abouts. This way, both parties win. You get a cheap holiday package and the hotel has their vacancy filled to cover expenses.

I must point out that while the site is frequently updated and there is a timer on each ad as to when it will be down-priced next, it’s best to nab them while you can because they don’t stick around for long.

This is a great app for those who love ski holidays and don’t mind leaving at a moments notice! Check it out here.

BBC Announce Dedicated News and Sports iPhone Applications

Steven Finch — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:58:38 +0000

The BBC announced they will be releasing standalone iPhone applications for their news and sport content this April with Blackberry and Android versions to follow.

Most people will say that these additions are well overdue, but it is good to see the BBC adopting new media and trying to spread their services to as many people as possible across a multitude of devices.

The Sports application will be online just in time for the World Cup in South Africa this June, and will feature live video and audio commentary from the worlds largest sporting event.

Wired’s iPad Application Looks Great

Steven Finch — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:09:14 +0000

Sirius XM Finally Release Their Blackberry Application for Satellite Radio

Steven Finch — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:46:07 +0000

Eight months after releasing their iPhone / iPod Touch App, Sirius XM has finally released their Blackberry app.

The app gives BlackBerry users access to 120 channels of music (most of it commercial free!) news, talk and sports. Some will be disappointed that Howard Stern isn’t included but Stern says it’s because of “contractual reasons” and that he hopes to be added to the app at a later date.

The app is free but the service is not. You’ll need to be Sirius/XM subscriber ($12.95 a month) and add the $3 a month online streaming service. I’ve been a subscriber for 7 years now and it’s been worth every penny. The app is compatible with the Storm/Storm 2, Curve (8500, 8900), Bold (9000, 9700), and Tour (9600).

SD Card Reader Comes to the iPhone/iPod Touch

Dean Sherwin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:54:34 +0000

Many are saying that it’s long overdue. And they’re right, it is. Given the fact that Apple have marketed their iPhone as the best smart phone on the market and next down the ladder to a netbook, you’d think they would have allowed users to transfer data without having to hook it up to their PC.

I enjoy the odd bit of photography, and it was a pain having to connect my iPod and start up iTunes just to transfer a handful of pictures. Now, Apple have given permission for third-party storage related hardware. The first out of the blocks is ZoomMediaPLUS with their ZoomIt with their SC card reader which plugs into the bottom of the device, and works in conjunction with their app. The app allows you to transfer data to and from the SD card juts as though it was connected to your PC.

I think that this recent development by Apple, to allow external memory solutions, is due to the impending launch of the iPad and the criticism for not being enough of a computer. Perhaps the ZoomIt DS reader will work on that too. The only downside to this new piece of hardware is the price tag: $60. A bit expensive for an SD reader. Also, it won’t be shipping for a few months. But during that time, if you pre-order, you can get a $10 discount.

Skype Will Soon Support Mobile Calls over 3G on the iPhone

Steven Finch — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:01:15 +0000

Skype on the iPhone currently supports calls over WiFi, but very soon they will support calls over 3G.

In a blog post this morning, however, Skype’s Peter Parkes confirmed that a 3G-capable version of the application is on its way, which will make Skype for iPhone “totally mobile.”

Here’s what Skype had to say about the pending application:

“Last Thursday, Apple introduced the iPad, which we’re very excited about here at Skype. David Ponsford … and his team are reviewing the device and its specs, and you can expect to hear more from us about Skype for iPad in due course.

What does this have to do with calling over 3G? The SDK (Software Development Kit) that Apple provides to developers like Skype has been upgraded for the iPad. The new version, 3.2, removes the restrictions on calling over 3G, which is great news.

You may have seen other apps offering calls over 3G, but we’re holding ours back for a little bit longer. Why? So that we can give you the very best audio quality we can. When our 3G-capable Skype for iPhone app is released, it’ll let you make calls in wideband audio, giving you greater clarity and fidelity – because that’s what you expect from Skype.”

You can also watch the video below for more information:

Google Is Launching Their Own Google App Store

Steven Finch — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:13:57 +0000

Google is building an App Store for its business-focused Google Apps software, which includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Spreadsheets, etc., the WSJ reports.

In the Google App store customer could purchase add-ons for all Google web apps.

Google could announce the App Store as soon as March, the WSJ’s Jessica Vascellaro says. Like the App Stores flourishing in the mobile industry, Google could collect a cut from sales while passing the majority of revenue along to developers.

iPad Analytics will be Supported by Motally

Dean Sherwin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:00:54 +0000

As I write this article, and as you read it, thousands of developers are scrambling to update their apps so they’re compatible with the iPad and to make better versions which suit the device. Nobody knew what was going to be in store for the app world with the launch of the iPad the other day. Many expected a Mac laptop without the base. Fortunately for app developers, it’s basically a big iPod touch!

This brings a whole new market to the app world. And a new market needs to be monitored for usage and revenue. Motally, who currently offer remote services for iPhone app developers have said that their service will be extended to include iPad SDK devices. That way, developers will be able to keep track on how popular their app is and what users are doing when on the app. Data which can be taken include page views, time spent using app and when the app is most frequently in use (time of day).

Developers will be able to get daily updates delivered straight to their own iPads or iPhones and can view complete statistics on the Motally website. Currently, the small start-up is quite successful and has helped some big clients keep track of their apps. These include Twitter, Yelp and Verizon.

Blipr: Send Noises and Have Conversations with Fellow iPhone Users

Dean Sherwin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:47:23 +0000

The iPhone now seems to have a million ways to communicate with other iPhones besides traditional SMS or calling. This is largely down to its 3G capabilities and of course, an abundance of great apps to choose from.

Blipr is a new one that has been thrown into the mix. Basically, it revolves around IM as well as sending sounds and icons to your friends. The app is completely free and here is how it works.

First, you download the app and send an invite to your friends asking them to do the same. You can do this via e-mail but you can also simply enter in your Twitter or Facebook username to send them a message that way. One your friends have the app and you’re all connected to one another you can have conversations in the form of text and sound effects. There is a vast library to choose from including musical instruments, barn yard animals and um… bodily functions.

You can also look back through your conversation history and play the attached sounds too.

This app runs in the background so you can start it up and every time you receive a Blip you’ll be notified without having to keep it running in full-mode. Check out Blipr here.

Official White House iPhone App: Download Free

Dean Sherwin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:42:16 +0000

Next week, the president of the United States Barak Obama will be addressing the nation in the annual ‘State of the Union’ speech. Many people will watch it live on TV, others from the White House’s website – some, from the official iPhone app.

The White House have just announced their official app which has been released onto the App Store. There have been other similar apps on the app store (mainly just fancy skins of the White House website) but this one is free and much, much better.

There is a feed to the White House blog, videos, newsroom topics and photos as well as quick updates about national situations and policies. However, the best feature is the video streaming (or ‘Live Content’ as it’s labelled in the app). This enables you to watch news conferences, events and speeches at the White House. So next week, make sure to watch the presidents speech from you cool new, free, White House iPhone app which can be downloaded here.