Did you just buy a Verizon iPhone? Or maybe you’re on AT&T but finally caved because you know now you’d really feel left out without one? Whatever the case may be, here are the iPhone apps you have to have. More »
Asteroids has always been a little too frenzied for me—there’s nowhere to hide!—and Breakout, Blackberry classic though it may be, can get a little bit tedious. Breakeroids, a Frankenstein-style combination of the two, strikes a highly playable, deliciously neon balance. More »
While perhaps not quite as HOLY CRAP futuristic as Word Lens, Google Translate is a tool that can actually help you when you’re travelling abroad. The new iPhone app lets you translate phrases both talked and typed in dozens of languages. More »
There are apps you enjoy and there are apps you rely on. For many of us at Giz, Simplenote is the latter. Clean, quick, flawlessly synced notes, on any device you happen to be using. More »
The end of the month is here, and that means it’s time to do a little housekeeping on our list of the absolute best iPhone apps. Who will be inducted? Who will unceremoniously get the boot? More »
A news addiction is one of the few dependencies that it’s actually good to indulge. And to a news junkie, a smartphone is like a wide-bore hypodermic needle. More »
Layar’s been the go-to platform for augmented reality on Android since 2009, bringing you the useful, the creepy, and the just plain weird — and now it’s unleashing the beast on iOS, again (it’s already available as a dedicated app). The Netherlands-based company just launched Layar Player, a free tool that allows anyone — with a little developer know-how — to create their very own AR iPhone app. Accompanying the announcement are three brand new Layar Player-enabled apps: the Bing-sponsored Snowboard Hero, which incorporates a special AR mode for collecting points; a contractor locator called Layer Trade; and VerbeterdeBuurt, an app that acts as an AR community bulletin board. The company’s press release touts the “democratization of augmented reality,” and while we can get behind their AR-for-alll message, we’ve already seen Layar used in ways that give us the willies. Don’t get us wrong, we’re still excited about the endless AR possibilities, but we’re hoping, at least for now, that iPhone app developers can keep the AR monsters at bay.
Continue reading Layar Player lets AR loose on iPhone apps
Layar Player lets AR loose on iPhone apps originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
Layar | Email this | Comments
When you go into cardiac arrest, you’ve got about ten minutes to live if you don’t receive medical attention, and the average emergency response time is seven minutes after you dial 911. In an effort to get folks help more quickly and leverage the iPhone’s life saving abilities, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in California has created the FireDepartment app to enlist the help of the citizenry in fighting the (unfortunate) results of a lifetime of eating tacos. The iPhone app — Android and BlackBerry versions are currently in the works — allows emergency dispatchers to notify users via text of a nearby crisis. For those feeling heroic, the app displays a map with the victim’s location and any nearby automatic electronic defibrillators, and provides “resuscitation reminders” in case you’re the CPR teddy-toting type. For now, the service only works in San Ramon but there are plans to port it for use elsewhere. That means we can look forward to a nation of amateur EMTs, which makes us thankful that mouth-to-mouth is no longer a part of CPR. Check the video after the break to see the app in action.
Continue reading Geolocation app appeals to your inner good samaritan, makes you an amateur EMT
Geolocation app appeals to your inner good samaritan, makes you an amateur EMT originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
O’Reilly Radar | San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District | Email this | Comments
Carrying a phone on the slopes isn’t just a good way to make sure you don’t freeze to death after careening off an unseen ledge. With the right apps, it can be helpful in non-emergency-related ways, too! More »
Do you spend your days desperately awaiting credit card bills, coupons to Pizza Hut, and reminders from your dentist’s office that it’s time for another cleaning? We’ve pared down our dependence on USPS, but for those who still get physical communications of note, Make has developed an Arduino-based mailbox mod that sends push notifications when the post is in. Back in 2005, we saw a clunky device called POSTIN that did much the same thing. Thankfully, this system doesn’t require an extra gadget, instead it sends messages straight to your iPhone. The postal alert system uses a snap-action switch, connected to an Arduino sensor, to signal when your mailbox is opened. A piece of code waits for the signal and then requests a URL from a PHP-enabled server, pushing an alert to your cellphone using the Prowl iPhone app. Die-hard USPS fans can check out the instructional video after the jump.
Continue reading Real-life mailbox mod tells your iPhone when you’ve got snail mail (video)
Real-life mailbox mod tells your iPhone when you’ve got snail mail (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink TUAW | Make | Email this | Comments
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
