Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on August 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

Microsoft/Mac Monday

Today we’re taking a look at our Top 10 applications for the iPhone followed by a list of some of our other favorites. For those of you who have your own favorite apps, let us know what they are in the comments…

NetNewsWire (link)

NetNewsWire is an RSS reader for your iPhone and it’s a favorite because we have found it to be the fastest way to read feeds on the iPhone. You can synchronize it with FeedDemon on Windows and NetNewsWire on a Mac, or any other NewsGator product. It’s actively being developed so it’s only going to get better.

Twinkle (link)

There are a few different Twitter applications available for the iPhone but Twinkle seems to bring the best of all of them together, plus it’s free. Twinkle allows you to find other people who are twittering nearby and you can also attach images and update your location. Appearance-wise it has a fantastic interface that is easy on the eyes.

Pandora/AOL Radio (link)(link)

Pandora and AOL Radio are our two favorite music streaming applications. It’s tough to pick which one is better because they serve two different purposes. Pandora sits there and analyzes the music that you like and tries to provide more of the same, while AOL Radio is more your typical radio station providing playlists not customized to the user. Both are great!

<

YP Mobile/Yelp (link)(link)

We decided to combine the YellowPages.com Mobile and Yelp together because when we were on vacation, both helped us find restaurants and attractions. Yelp was nice because you could read the reviews right from the iPhone of what people thought of the service listed. It would be great if people could add reviews right from the app, but they don’t at this point. Overall, both are helpful for when you are in unfamiliar areas and you are looking for restaurants or places to go.

<

Super Monkey Ball (link)

Super Monkey Ball is one of the apps that you have to pay for to enjoy. The cost is $9.99 and it’s definitely one of the most talked about and most popular games for the iPhone. They have included 110 different stages which makes it worth the money. It’s not something you’ll beat in just a couple of hours, that’s for sure.

It took us a little while to get used to keeping our hand steady so that the monkey wouldn’t go falling off the edge. It’s extremely sensitive, but if it weren’t, it would make the game too easy and less fun to play.

Sudoku Unlimited (link)

The cost for Sudoku Unlimited is $2.99. It includes three different skins to choose from so that you have a variety of appearances to choose from, including a hand written one that really makes it look like you are writing your answers out on a piece of paper.

Sudoku Unlimited allows you to put notes in any of the cells which is really nice. I don’t know about you, but we tend to make notes all of the time on a Sudoku puzzle, especially the tricky ones, so this is a must-have feature.

With five difficulty settings, Sudoku Unlimited appeals to a wide-array of players. It automatically generates the puzzles so that you never run out, which is nice as well. Both Ryan and I really like Sudoku, so for $2.99, we couldn’t pass up Sudoku Unlimited!

Zenbe Lists (link)

Using Zenbe lists, you can create all of your lists (like grocery) online and then sync them to your iPhone. You can also share lists with others which is helpful. For example, I can share a list with Ryan and he can share one with me. The interface for both the online and iPhone portions are really intuitive. This is one of those applications that can help you become more productive and save you time.

WeatherBug (link)

The iPhone comes with a weather application, but the WeatherBug application is able to provide many more details like wind speed, severe weather alerts, detailed forecasts, and more. The radar makes use of the built-in Google maps so that you can really zoom in and get to your local area to see if a storm is close to you or not.

Exposure (link)

Exposure has both a free and paid version available, with the paid version costing $9.99. The free version pays for itself with unobtrusive advertisements, and this is the version we use. Exposure makes it really easy to show photos to people from Flickr and view images posted by your contacts. You can search for nearby geo-tagged photos and general searching of all photos on Flickr is available as well.

eBay Mobile (link)

eBay Mobile makes it easy to search and manage items from your eBay account. Users can view auctions they are watching, view items they are selling, and more. You can also bid on items right from the app.

We’ve found this app to be the most handy when we were out at a store and wanted to see if something was a good deal or not. All it took was a quick search using this app to get eBay results. You really get a full eBay experience using this application.

Other Apps we like:

These are free unless otherwise noted.

• AccuFuel ($0.99)- helps you monitor your vehicle’s fuel efficiency
• Box Office – read reviews of movies, locate theaters and show times, and purchase tickets
• Carrie’s Dots – (free version is 2 player only) – this is the classic game of filling in the squares by drawing a line
• Cube Runner – a good free example of using the iPhone’s accelerometer in a game
• Facebook – Facebook fans will love Facebook on their iPhone!
• iChoose – indecisive? This app provides with with a random yes/no, coin toss, dice roll and card choice to make decisions for you
• Mobile News Network – this app is brought to you by the Associated Press and helps you keep up with the latest news around the globe.
• Morocco – the classic game of Othello
• myLite – flashlight app (free, and one of the best)
• PegJump – the classic wooden peg game
• Remote – by Apple, for remotely controlling iTunes
• Scribble – draw a design and then shake to erase
• Shazam – helps you identify a song when you don’t know what it is
• SportsTap – gets all of your sports scores
• WordPress – create and edit content on your WordPress blog

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Your Week in Review with Sunday’s SummaryYour Week in Review with Sunday’s SummaryApple’s App Store Rumored to Launch on MondayApple Surprises Us With iPhone Firmware UpdateApple Can Remotely Remove Bad Apps From Your iPhone

This article was written on July 10, 2008 by CyberNet.

The next 24 hours is going to be pure chaos for Apple fans, and the madness started early this morning when Apple released iTunes 7.7. That was then followed by the App Store launch, then a “leaked” iPhone 2.0 firmware, and more. It’s madness I tell you.

I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of Apple news on the gadget sites already, and so we wanted to throw all of the news into one convenient post. Here’s a roundup of the events from this morning:

–Download the iPhone 2.0 Firmware-–

MacRumors somehow grabbed a direct download link for the new iPhone 2.0 firmware on Apple’s servers so that you don’t have to wait until tomorrow to make use of the new App Store. The first thing you’ll need to do is grab the download, and then perform a little trickery:

In order to install the firmware, you will have to do it manually by pressing the Option key when pressing the “Check for Update” button in iTunes. Then select the .ipsw file manually. If for some reason your download is a “.zip” file, rename it to “.ipsw” before proceeding.

Be careful though… this update apparently erases all of the data on your iPhone. Unfortunately this does not work on the iPod Touch.

–iTunes 7.7–

Apple has released iTunes 7.7 today which is a requirement for anyone planning on picking up an iPhone 3G tomorrow. This version also includes support for the App Store, but we’ll get into that a little bit more in a minute.

One thing that jkOnTheRun has already noticed is that there’s now an option to sync your contacts with Google from within the iTunes settings. Apple also added remote control functionality so that you can use your iPod Touch or iPhone to control your iTunes. This will, however, require that you install a free app Apple provides called Remote.

–App Store–

The new iTunes also includes support for the long awaited App Store where developers can share and sell applications that they’ve made for the iPod Touch and iPhone. There are over 500 apps available right now broken up into over a dozen categories, and about 25% of them are free downloads. Of those that do cost money over 90% are under $9.99, which is actually a reasonable price. The most expensive is one called ForeFlight that provides weather and data for pilots. The cost? It’s $69.99.

What’s nice is that Apple has made it easy to browse through the App Store and have it show only those programs that are free. I’ve already skimmed through all of the free offerings, and currently have about 15 that are ready to be installed on my iPhone. These include eBay Mobile, Facebook (not that I’ll really use it), NetNewsWire, Pandora Radio, SportsTap (for sports scores), Twitterrific, WeatherBug, and the Yellow Pages. You can see all of the ones I’ve downloaded in this screenshot:

Note: To get the Applications section in my Library I had to enable it in the preferences. Then to browse through the available apps just click the Get More Applications link shown in the bottom-right corner of the screenshot. Or you can just click here to open iTunes and be taken directly to the top free apps.

The application that I’m the most excited about would have to be NetNewsWire because I felt that Newsgator’s mobile interface wasn’t as slick as what Google Reader offered for the iPhone. This free feed reader will synchronize all of your feeds across all of your computers (both Windows and Mac) which is very nice. I haven’t been able to try it out yet, but judging by the screenshot it should be just what the doctor ordered.

Any iTunes user can start downloading the programs that are currently available in the App Store, but you obviously won’t be able to load them onto your device until you get the new firmware 2.0 upgrade.

–App Store on the iPhone–

Apple hasn’t officially released the new 2.0 firmware yet, but Gizmodo has been posting videos of how the App Store works on the iPhone. I have to say that it’s pretty slick how you uninstall an application the same way that you remove a web bookmark that you’ve added to your home screen (pictured to the right).

Overall Gizmodo seems to be really impressed with how smooth the whole process is. Apple might have really knocked one out of the park with the new App Store.

–MobileMe–

Apple is also preparing for their full scale launch of MobileMe, which is the rebranding process of .Mac. As TUAW noticed there is already an update for both the Mac operating system and Apple TV that switches over the branding to MobileMe.

–AT&T Gets iPhone 3G Shipments–

This is a video of an AT&T store receiving and stocking the new iPhone 3G’s for tomorrow’s big release. There’s really nothing that interesting with the video other than the fact that the white 16GB iPhone 3G’s come in a white box.

Thanks to everyone who sent in the tips!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Apple Surprises Us With iPhone Firmware UpdateNew iTunes 7.3 Required for iPhoneApple App Store: Purchase Once, Use on Multiple DevicesiPhone 2.1 Firmware Now Available…Fix for iPhone 3G Connectivity with Firwmare Update?

This article was written on August 13, 2008 by CyberNet.

Last year about this same time, rumor had it that Apple was preparing to allow their “revolutionary” iPhone to be sold in Best Buy stores. One site, AppleInsider said on August 3rd, 2007,“By October — and more likely by September — all Best Buy locations should have iPhones on hand to sell to customers. Lavish video displays, like those erected in Apple retail store windows ahead of the phone’s launch, may also turn up at the electronics stores.” Interestingly enough, Best Buy never did get the opportunity to sell the original iPhones in their stores last year but they just might get the opportunity to sell iPhone 3G’s this year.

The Associated Press broke the news early this morning saying that starting on September 7th, Best Buy will become the first U.S. retailer outside of Apple and AT&T stores to be able to sell the iPhone 3G. To be able to get Steve Jobs’ blessing, Best Buy said they had quite a bit of work to do including upgrading their cell-phone departments, upgrading their computer systems to handle activations, and training their employees. Over 250,000 hours were spent preparing employees who would handle activations.

This could be pretty big for Best Buy considering how well the iPhone 3G has already gone over since it launched. It gives Best Buy an opportunity to gain a few customers and work their skills selling accessories to make an extra buck. If only they would have been able to sell the iPhone 3G at launch – it may have helped reduce some of the irritating lines found at Apple and AT&T locations. Oh, and lets not forget those extended warranties. Best Buy will be sure to try and push the extended warranties because that is one sure way for them to make extra money.

Customers could potentially benefit from Best Buy selling the iPhone 3G as well. One commenter over at TUAW pointed out how Best Buy is good for throwing in the freebies to try and sell products better. If they were able to sell the iPhone along with a free case and an iTunes gift card, those who planned on buying the iPhone 3G anyways would flock there, and those who considered it but weren’t quite sure, would certainly be tempted to buy.

Thanks for the tip Omar!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

iPhone 3G Graces the Cover of Best Buy Ad TomorrowWal-Mart Selling Toshiba HD DVD Player for $198AT&T Gears Up for iPhone by Hiring 2,000 Extra EmployeesGet Your 14 Karat Solid Gold iPhone TodayDell Might Release AMD Computers By September

There’s no way it can be pure coincidence that Apple decided to drop the price of its iPhone 3GS the day before Verizon’s rumored iPhone announcement. So, for those of you who have waited patiently to buy an iPhone at a reasonable price on AT&T, now is your time to grab this offer. The 8GB iPhone 3GS starts at $49 with with a two-year AT&T plan — 50 percent less than its original price. This happens a week after AT&T dropped it to $49.

That being said, this is the 3GS, not the iPhone 4, so you’re still not getting the best iPhone out there. It does, however, start at $150 less than the iPhone 4. You may want to wait until after tomorrow’s announcement to see what Verizon has up its sleeves, though.

Hey, you — it’s January 3rd. You know, the day you’re supposed to return to work / school / life. And the day you’re supposed to catch a flight you’ve had booked for three months. And probably a day that you’re supposed to accomplish lots of other tasks. Unfortunately for you, you actually believed that your iPhone alarm would fix itself when today rolled around, but based on hordes of complaints seen on Twitter and Facebook, said fix is still hibernating. And thus, you’re still sleeping. Even here at Engadget HQ, we’ve seen iPhone 4 handsets not wake us as promised (on non-recurring alarms), so who knows when Apple will step up to the plate and address the issue. In the meantime, go ahead and set up a recurring alarm while gently crossing your fingers and toes. Or, you know, buy a battery-powered alarm clock off of your grandmother.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

iPhone alarms still not working, worlds crashing left and right originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments