Hasta La Gadget!

Trust us — no one on the Engadget staff wants to know what their blood pressure is right about now. For those trapped in the hurricane that is CES, there’s probably no better product to have laying around than this… but only if you’re looking to confirm your suspicions about being in a high-stress career. Withings, the company best known for its connected scales, has just revealed the planet’s first iPhone-connected blood pressure monitor, with an aim to make measuring vitals as easy as pie for iOS users. The idea is fairly simple: just plug the arm band into your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, dial up the gratis app and start the process. All of the data is logged on the user’s secure online space, and there’s even a secure sharing feature that’ll beam your abnormally high rates right to your frightened physician. It’ll go on sale tomorrow around the globe, with the asking price set at $129 / €129.

Continue reading Withings fittingly debuts iPhone-connected blood pressure monitor at CES

Withings fittingly debuts iPhone-connected blood pressure monitor at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apps, apps, apps! Everywhere you look, more apps. Both Android and Windows Phone 7 have reportedly crossed a couple of round number milestones recently, giving us a decent idea of the maturity gap between the two. Microsoft’s brand new OS with an old OS’ name has rounded the 5,000 available apps corner — that’s according to two sources keeping track of what’s on offer in the Marketplace — while AndroLib’s latest data indicates Android’s crossed the 200,000 threshold when it comes to apps and games taken together. We’re cautious on taking either of these numbers as hard truth, particularly since AndroLib was reporting 100,000 Android apps when there were only 70,000 — but they do provide rough estimates as to where each platform is in terms of quantity, if not quality. Now, where do you think each will be this time in 2011?

Continue reading App store milestones: Windows Phone 7 hits 5,000 as Android passes 200,000 available apps

App store milestones: Windows Phone 7 hits 5,000 as Android passes 200,000 available apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple can’t stick to its own rules with the gigantic iOS App Store.

The company recently approved an iPhone camera app that carries a special feature: the ability to snap a photo by pressing the physical Volume button rather than tapping the touchscreen. Oddly enough, about four months ago Apple banned a top-selling iPhone app for including the same “volume-snap” functionality.

In August, Apple rejected the photo app Camera+ when it included a volume-snap feature, because changing the behavior of the iPhone’s external hardware buttons was strictly prohibited.

“Your application cannot be added to the App Store because it uses iPhone volume buttons in a non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion,” Apple told Camera+ developer Tap Tap Tap in its August rejection letter. “Changing the behavior of iPhone external hardware buttons is a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement.”

Following the rejection, Tap Tap Tap hid the volume-snap feature as an Easter egg inside the app and hinted that it could be enabled by visiting a URL in the Safari web browser. That led to Apple slamming the ban hammer. After four months in the penalty box, Camera+ returned last week with the volume-snap feature removed.

So it’s inconsistent that the app Quick Snap got the green light in the App Store, explicitly promoting the volume-snap feature that Apple strictly forbade (see screengrab above).

“Why choose the soft or full screen shutter when you can use VOLUME BUTTON as the hard shutter button on your iPhone?” Quick Snap’s iTunes description reads.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hosting more than 300,000 apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Apple’s App Store has drawn criticism for some of its rules regulating the content and functionality allowed inside third-party apps. Apple only three months ago published guidelines listing reasons why apps get rejected from the App Store.

But with the case of Camera+, it’s evident that disclosing guidelines hasn’t solved one of the App Store’s major problems: App Store reviewers are not consistent with enforcing the rules, and therefore censorship still seems arbitrary.

I’ve argued in the past that arbitrary censorship in the App Store is detrimental to creative freedom — an issue poised to grow as Apple continues to expand as a major media publisher.

See Also:

• Apple’s App Store Director Sells His Own Fart Apps
• Tweet of the Day: Apple’s Contradictory App Store Guidelines …
• Apple Eases App Development Rules, Adobe Surges
• Steve Jobs Debates Developers Over Apple’s New App Policy

Our favorite iPhone camera app just got a boatload of new features after its four-month exile from the App Store.

Previously pulled by Apple because it included an inoffensive hidden feature, Camera+ returned to the App Store on Tuesday night with new controls, more image-editing effects, improved performance and several other additions.

Most notably, there’s a new slider bar that allows you to adjust the intensity of each effect applied to a photo, giving you more control over the end result.

There are also some neat new filters like a Nostalgia filter for a more old-school look and a depth-of-field effect to give your photo an artsy touch. (See the photos above for examples.)

I’ve had some time to test the update, and the biggest improvement is speed. Camera+ now loads much faster than it used to, which is useful for capturing those serendipitous moments, and the time to process photos has decreased significantly.

The app’s maker Tap Tap Tap has a full post on all 53 new features.

It’s a free upgrade for those who already own the app. For new buyers, Camera+ is $1 in the App Store.

Download Link [iTunes]

See Also:

• Camera+ Sneaks Volume-Activated Shutter Past Apple’s Censors …
• Camera+ for iPhone 4 Adds Flash, Exposure Control