WiFi-enabled bathroom scale slides into USA, overweight Yanks sluggishly back away

Oh sure, we Americans love our fast food. And we love our technology. But do we really love the latter? Withings has just announced that the world’s first WiFi-enabled bathroom scale has made its way into the States after a few months abroad, and we have to say, this could change everything. When pouncing upon it, the scale automatically records the user’s body weight, lean / fat mass and calculated body mass index (BMI) to his or her secure webpage, and if you’re more the iPhone type, it can beam data to a Withings iPhone app as well. It’s available now for $159, but you can certainly wait ’til your latest diet has had some sort of effect before bringing one home. A delightful demonstration video is waiting for you just past the break.

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WiFi-enabled bathroom scale slides into USA, overweight Yanks sluggishly back away originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navigon adding live traffic to iPhone navigation app, asks ‘TomTom who?’

Practically all summer, the buzz surrounding TomTom’s forthcoming iPhone GPS app was near deafening. But said noise apparently didn’t penetrate the labs at Navigon, as that very outfit has produced what’s easily the most full-featured option on the market today. Just a week after updating the already-great app with text-to-speech, iPod controls and location sharing, the company is now proclaiming that live traffic will splash down in October (at least in North America). The update will enable the software to utilize real-time speed data from drivers currently en route as well as historical information in order to alert you of slow-downs and re-route you when necessary. We’ve personally seen live traffic functions fail more often than not, but we’re giving Navigon the benefit of the doubt here until we can test it ourselves. Best of all, it’ll only cost MobileNavigator users (priced at $89.99) a one-time fee of $24.99 for lifetime traffic, and if you snag it within the first four weeks after it goes on sale, that rate drops to $19.99. So, TomTom — what now?

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Navigon adding live traffic to iPhone navigation app, asks ‘TomTom who?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s Application Store scrambles to life for some Omnia i900 owners

If you have an Omnia i900 and you live in the UK, Italy, or France then listen up, Samsung’s Application Store just went live. A quick .CAB file download installs the new Application Store client onto your WinMo handset. From there you have access to about 300 paid (payable by credit card, phone billing “coming soon”) and free apps via WiFi or Cellular data connections. Samsung plans to have over “over 2,000” apps in the store by the end of 2009 with support added for the Omnia II I8000 and OmniaLITE B7300 from more than 30 countries planned on an indeterminate timeline. A quick glance through the top paid apps reveals the £3.50 Guitar Hero World Tour and free apps like Evernote and the Skyfire browser — otherwise, the so-called “Hot” game-heavy, apps look pretty lackluster for the moment. It’s also interesting (read: odd) that Skyfire is tagged with an “OS Cetified” (Samsung’s misspelling) badge for Windows Mobile while the heavily promoted Guitar Hero remains badge-less. Ah well, it is launch day and we expect these things will get ironed-out soon enough. Pics and highly conceptualized App Store experience demonstration after the break.

Read — Press release
Read — Download

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Samsung’s Application Store scrambles to life for some Omnia i900 owners originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navigon sneaks text-to-speech, iPod controls and location sharing into MobileNavigator app

TomTom’s much-ballyhooed iPhone GPS app best step its game up, else it’ll get left in the dust by none other than Navigon. The lesser-known nav company today introduced the second major update for its MobileNavigator iPhone app (our impressions are here), and the feature additions aren’t anything to scoff at. For starters, the program has become the first on-board navigation app for the iPhone to gain text-to-speech functionality, and just in case hearing street names belted out through a robotic voice ain’t good enough for your high standards, the inclusion of iPod control should win you over. At long last, drivers can access the full range of iPod functionalities with a single click from map access, and it even recognizes the shuffle feature to keep you guessing. Finally, a location sharing function has been added to make stalking your pals that much easier; to close, Navigon has knocked $10 off the purchase price, bringing it down to a nearly-palatable $89.99 — and yes, those who already own it can download the update gratis.

[Via HotHardware]

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Navigon sneaks text-to-speech, iPod controls and location sharing into MobileNavigator app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW’s iPhone app: it’s alive

If you love TUAW, iPhones, and apps (and let’s be honest… you do), then today should be filled with wonderment and excitement. Why you ask? Because our homeboys and girls over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog have released their very own iPhone app — and it’s pretty darn slick. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get to downloading it right now. It’s what Steve Jobs would want you to do.

Read – TUAW’s post on the app
Read – iTunes link

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TUAW’s iPhone app: it’s alive originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iBurgh complaint department for iPhone gets to the heart of city living

As anybody who lives in a mid-sized American city knows, the only good reason to contact the mayor’s office is to complain about something. Now Pittsburgh, which usually only graces this site when one of its universities develops a robot or a weapon of some sort, has put its own high-tech spin on this with iBurgh. Described by city councilman Bill Peduto as “the first mobile application for city government,” the app lets iPhone owners snap a picture of their favorite eyesore or attractive nuisance, attach a quick note, and send the geotagged information to the city’s 311 operators. Not only is this good for potholes and gridlocked traffic, but it’s sure to be a hit among rioting college students the next time the Steelers win some sort of big game — and if you don’t know what we’re talking about, just punch +steelers +riot into Google. And then hit the read link to download for yourself.

[Via KDKA,Thanks Dan H.]

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iBurgh complaint department for iPhone gets to the heart of city living originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qik for iPhone 3GS now available, still not capable of live 3G streaming

So, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Qik for iPhone 3GS is now available, and it’s completely gratis to download. The bad news is that it probably won’t do exactly what you want it to. You see, those on Symbian S60 have grown used to a Qik that can actually stream live video to the internet, whereas this app is currently just a “capture and upload” piece. Moreover, it only works via WiFi, so if you’re not near a hotspot once your video is done, you’ll have to wait until you wander back over to one before it automatically begins uploading. Though, you can let the app automatically inform viewers of where the video was taken (in case you feel like pampering guests who show up unannounced), and you can also frame the video horizontally or vertically. The Qik team assures us that an update is in the works to add 3G uploading, but for now, it’s WiFi or bust. Which is kosher so long as it’s free… we guess.

[Thanks, Jackie]

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Qik for iPhone 3GS now available, still not capable of live 3G streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom’s iPhone car kit and navigation software priced overseas

TomTom told us that its long-awaited iPhone navigation app and in-car mounting kit would be landing “this summer,” and at least on our watch, summertime is quickly drawing to a close. If a pre-order listing over at Handtec is to be believed, it looks as if the outfit is exceedingly close to finally having both the software and hardware ready for shipping. The £113.85 ($194) asking price includes a suction mount for your iPhone as well as the mapping software, though there’s no indication of exactly how much the app and hardware will run by themselves. Of course, until the iPhone supports multitasking, using it as a dedicated PND is still a risky move; one stray call during a pivotal moment in your travels and you can consider yourself lost. Oh, and then there’s the fact that this thing has a TomTom logo on it — if the iPhone app functions anything like the company’s high-end GO 740 LIVE, we’d say you’re better off asking Mr. Gas Station attendant (or buying a different brand).

[Via DaniWeb]

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TomTom’s iPhone car kit and navigation software priced overseas originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s new low: censoring a dictionary

You know guys, you’re not really doing yourself any favors at this point. We’ve seen plenty of stories thus far detailing the company’s absurd, reactionary, and typically confusing application rejections or changes for its App Store, but the treatment given to dictionary app Ninjawords seems particularly telling. In essence, the program, a simple and fast reference tool — a straight-up dictionary — has omitted a handful of common words seen as objectionable by the Star Chamber of application reviewers at Apple HQ. What kind of words, you ask? Well, namely the same kind of words which you can find in any standard dictionary in just about any classroom in this country. John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame succinctly calls out what is patently obvious:

Apple censored an English dictionary.

A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms.

But it’s far worse than that.

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Apple’s new low: censoring a dictionary originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple kicks out MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone

It still can’t multitask, but as of today, it’s finally capable of accessing and sharing iDisk files. Apple has at long last let loose a long-awaited application for iPhone OS 3.0 that enables iPhone and iPod touch users with MobileMe accounts to access the inner sanctums of their own iDisk. The app lets you login, view files (up to 20MB or so, sayeth Apple) and share files by sending others a link via email to whatever you deem appropriate. There’s also an option to password protect those files and limit the amount of days the download is active, though viewing files is limited to iPhone-supported file types such as iWork, Office, QuickTime, PDF, etc. If you’re a paying MobileMe user, go on and give this one a download — it’s free, you know?

Read – iDisk [opens in iTunes]
Read – TUAW’s First Look: iDisk app

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Apple kicks out MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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