Dynamic Controls has just taken the wraps off of its new iPhone application which should be of great interest to those who use a wheelchair on a daily basis. The application — which connects with the wheelchair via Bluetooth and has a built-in charger for the iPhone or iPod touch — enables diagnostics to check for any problems with the chair. It also allows users to get real-time information, speed information, and compass data.
Back in much simpler times, TomTom‘s navigation app had claimed compatibility with all iPhone and iPod touch models. Then suddenly, somewhere along the primrose path to publication, original iPhoneand iPod touchsupport evaporated. But no more. TomTom’s pushed an update that allows for turn-by-turn navigation, but of course, you’ll still need the car kit to work. Was this the missing link between your $100 and owning this app? [Warning: iTunes link]
[Thanks, Scott M]
Update: So, the Car Kit for iPod touch has hit TomTom’s e-store, and it’s $20 cheaper than the Car Kit for iPhone due to the lack of handsfree support (we guess, anyway). Thanks, Philippe!
Dear reader, we think you’re beautiful. We really do. But we hear you’ve got a “friend” who’s been considering some nip / tuck action. Luckily there is now an iPhone app that will let him or her not only peruse the handiwork of a certain Steven M. Denenberg, M.D., of Omaha Nebraska, but it will put your friend in touch with him for a consult, if desired. Providing an important service? That’s debatable. Worth the 99 cent price of admission? Probably not. PR after the break.
Okay, we admit to still being a little bit unsure about OnLive‘s pledges for high-end, high-resolution, lag-free gaming on any ‘ol device with bandwidth, but we want to believe, and so it’s with skeptical optimism that we report on news of mobile implementations. The company has demonstrated an iPhone app in which users are able to play against gamers on a PC or on the company’s MicroConsole — despite not having a single button to press. It’s interesting stuff but, according to OnLive’s CEO Steve Perlman, it’ll be awhile before we see this in the wild, as plans for initial mobile apps will be limited to checking game stats and watching live gameplay. However, we presume it’ll be a small step from there to flip the switch and two-way communications, meaning that perhaps by the time Modern Warfare 3 hits the wires you can keep gaming even while you’re commuting.
Just in time for the Pixi’s grand debut, webOS devices (that’s just Pixi and Pre) now have their first official Facebook app, joining the ranks of iPhone and Android… and we’re sad to report that it’s about as barebones as they can get. It pulls from the raw live stream, seemingly unfiltered — even if you said “no” to Farmville updates on your main feed, they’ll show up here. Clicking a YouTube link brings you to the YouTube app, clicking links go to browser. You can update your status or upload a photo, but that’s about it. You can’t seem to search Facebook for any info, view events, or anything else, and clicking on someone’s name or photo brings up their contact info. And that’s about it — can someone give Joe Hewitt a ring? Still, it’s better than nothing. WebOS 1.3.1 is required, not that you had any reason to hold off upgrading.
Yar, that was fast. Less than a day after Microsoft updated its Windows Marketplace for Mobile with new advanced anti-piracy measure, some apt xda-developers community member has managed to crack the new code — in under two hours, according to Chainfire’s posting. The hack itself won’t be posted, but we’re sure other astute programmers, many of more nefarious intention, will be able to have their way with it just as easy. Sad for developers who’ve been wanting something more secure — better luck next update.
The BlackBerry app store may be trailing the iPhone and Android app market but it’s got an exclusive that’s sure to leave other smartphone users envious.
The official Craigslist app will soon be exclusively available to BlackBerry users. The $5 app created by Movela and Pyxis Mobile will allow users to browse and search through Craigslist postings across different categories, reply to them and save searches. The app supports all categories and countries available on the Craigslist website. So if you want to read ‘missed connections’ on the go, the BlackBerry will be the only place for it.
“We took about two days to create an initial version of the app and then took it to Craigslist for their approval,” says Todd Christy, president and CTO at Pyxis Mobile, which helped develop the app. “They liked it because we had a working app and not just a concept.”
It’s a big coup for Pyxis, which has been creating mobile applications for businesses for about nine years.
“A number of mobile app makers have applied to Craigslist for licenses and to date there is one authorized licensee,” says Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist.
BlackBerry launched it app store in April. Currently it has a little more than 2000 apps compared to the 12,000 in the Android Market and 100,000 in the iPhone app store. Craigslist apps exist on the iPhone but without official licensing, they are rather limited in their feature set.
Pyxis says the reason it chose BlackBerry is because it’s mobile technology platform is targeted at business users and a large number of BlackBerry users are business customers.
“Its our core platform and we have done a lot of testing of apps on the BlackBerry,” says Christy. “There was also no competition on the BlackBerry front for a Craigslist type app. ”
In the “distant future,” Christy says, the official Craigslist app could make its way to iPhone and Windows Mobile phones.
Check out a video of the official Craigslist app for the BlackBerry
We always said that if Apple’s arbitrary, inconsistent, and quite frankly baffling approval process didn’t get straightened out soon, the defections were going to pick up pace — and what do we have here? Joe Hewitt, the developer of the well-loved and highly regarded Facebook iPhone app, has flipped the script and rejected the App Store. And, as you’d expect, our man is not mincing his words, stating that his “decision to stop iPhone development has had everything to do with Apple’s policies,” and that he’s “philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process.” While Hewitt can’t comment on specific future projects (he’s still at Facebook, but the app itself has been handed off to another developer) he has mentioned that he’ll be devoting his time to web development for mobile devices. As you know, there is no approval process for the world wide web (which is apparent if you’ve spent any time on Geocities back in the day). Way to give ’em hell, Joe!
Windows Mobile 6.5 users rejoice, you now have a better marketplace experience your way. Microsoft’s added a couple updates to its mobile app store. On the developers’ side of things there’s a new portal for submission, and “more advanced anti-piracy protection” — no clue if it solves those DRM issues we heard about before, but sounds at least like a step in the right direction. For the consumers, there’s now an online store that you can use from your certainly superior desktop / laptop browser. In the vein of Xbox Live Marketplace’s online portal at Xbox.com, purchased apps from the browser will be sent to the connected phone next time you open up the Windows Marketplace client… what’s that? You want support for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1? Microsoft reassures us it’s coming later this month, so hang tight, okay?
British satellite TV purveyor Sky has been pushing hard lately to expand into new spheres, a desire marked most clearly by its Sky Player integration with the Xbox 360 Dashboard. Now the company is keeping momentum going with the Sky Mobile TV app for the iPhone. The app itself will come free, but live streaming access to the full selection of Sky news and sports (ESPN included) channels will set you back £6 ($10) a month. That’s pretty reasonable value if you’re into live Premier League matches, which are typically the highest ticket item on a British TV subscription bill. O2 has sweetened that deal even further by offering a full quarter of a year’s worth of free access — a clear response to Orange’s infraction on its iPhone turf. You can only stream via WiFi for now, but you have to agree that, at this price point, it’s a definite step in the right direction.
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