iPad apps: Twitter and social networking essentials

As you might’ve notice, either here on the site or likely elsewhere on the internet, we at Engadget have somewhat of an affinity to social networking. With a new screen sitting here saving us some screen real estate, we decided to give a number of Twitter and other pro-social apps a go for perennially staying connected to our online friends — so long as there’s a decent WiFi connection nearby. Here’s the highlights from what we’ve toyed with, and stay tuned for even more roundups on the horizon.

Twitterific for iPad (free; $4.99 for Pro account) – Definitely the best Twitter app on the iPad so far (pictured above). It works great in portrait and landscape, contextual links conveniently pop out and photos even get special format treatment. No option to upload photos when tweeting, but we’re guessing with a lack of a camera, it didn’t seem as necessary an addition — we like to show off our screen captures and saved browsing images, but hey, that’s just us. The only deterrent for power users is that you can only view one column at a time, but with lists, saved searches, and all other thread options easily accessible from the leftmost column, we didn’t find it too inconvenient whatsoever. [See in iTunes]

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iPad apps: Twitter and social networking essentials originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Caption contest: iPhone as a CPR device

Alright, we’ll leave all the zingers for you and our mercurial staff to deliver, and just use this space to dish some info on the hardware. Ivor Kovic, an emergency physician from Croatia, has recently demoed a new iPhone cradle that turns the already multifunctional handset into a CPR assistance device. By using an app titled Pocket CPR and the built-in accelerometer, he can get audio and visual feedback to tell him if he’s doing it correctly, while his basic (but awesome) cradle allows for longer CPR sessions if necessary. Check out the video after the break, then hit the comments with your finest witticisms.

Paul: “Come on Luke Wilson’s Career, stay with me now, you’re not going to die on me!”
Darren: “Man, I could really get a better look at what’s going on if this thing had a 9.7-inch IPS panel…”
Chris: “Everyone is either dying or staying alive these days, and we began to ask ourselves: is there room for something in the middle?”
Nilay: “He then died.”
Vlad: “Our other cradle also measures rhythm and depth, though its purpose isn’t entirely medicinal.”
Andy: “A rare case where a lack of multitasking is actually helpful to the task on hand.”
Thomas: “Can you stop dying for a second, I have to take this call.”
Joe: “This actually adds an intriguing level of complexity to Super Monkey Ball 2.”
Richard Lai: “Come on… COME ON!! Wait a tick… AT&T? No wonder it isn’t working. Dammit.”
Tim: “Looks like this guy’s heart (puts on sunglasses)… has dropped its last call.” Yeeeaaaaaahhhh…

Continue reading Caption contest: iPhone as a CPR device

Caption contest: iPhone as a CPR device originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unauthorized iPhone news readers raise eyebrows

Here’s an interesting little new media legal dilemma for you: apparently there are several paid apps in the iPhone App Store that bill themselves as “readers” for publications like the New York Times, CNET, and the BBC, but aren’t actually licensed or official in anyway — they’re just pulling RSS feeds. That means people paying for an app like The New York Times Mobile Reader aren’t actually getting an app from the Times — and, perhaps more importantly, the Times isn’t getting anything from anyone. Seems like Apple should probably just shut these apps down, but that’s the interesting part: all these apps are pretty much just custom-built feed readers, and you can generally access all of the same content using Safari. Now, there’s obviously a trademark issue involved here, especially if these apps are confusing people into thinking they’re official, but we’re curious to see how these pubs and Apple handle the situation in the next few weeks, since it’s relatively uncharted territory.

P.S.- Let’s not even get into the fact that Apple’s rated the NYT Mobile Reader app “12+” for “Infrequent / Mild Mature / Suggestive Themes.” Oh, the App Store.

Unauthorized iPhone news readers raise eyebrows originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Molinker is no more on the App Store — ratings scam results in expulsion

Well, here’s the happy side to the police state known as Apple’s App Store. One of the more prolific app makers out there, Molinker, has been recently unceremoniously expelled from the Apple orchard due to its manipulation of app ratings and reviews. As it turns out, Molinker has been massaging the truth by pumping out false five star reviews for its wares, and now Phil Schiller himself has stepped in and pulled the company’s whole catalog — consisting of more than 1,000 apps — seemingly permanently:

Yes, this developer’s apps have been removed from the App Store and their ratings no longer appear either.

So the App Store is now a bunch of travel guides lighter and Mr. Schiller gets a “good boy” badge from the blog brigade. Good news all around then.

Molinker is no more on the App Store — ratings scam results in expulsion originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone orchestra at the vanguard of smartphone music-making push

The relationship between cellphones and music has almost always been a quirky one, producing bouts of the surreal punctuated by an occasional flourish of the sublime. Latest to join the melodic fray are Georg Essl from the University of Michigan and his “mobile phone ensemble.” Each of the participating students has designed a noise-making app for his or her iPhone, which is used in conjunction with the built-in accelerometer and touchscreen to make (hopefully beautiful) music. Though we may consider this a gimmick for now, Professor Essl is most enthusiastic about the future prospects of utilizing smartphones to make music with legitimate aspirations. The debut performance of this newfangled orchestra is on December 9, or you can check out a preview in the video after the break.

[Thanks, Ry]

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iPhone orchestra at the vanguard of smartphone music-making push originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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‘Endless Racing Game’ iPhone demo video isn’t endless, is endlessly entertaining

We’re not going to bore you with details, but we are going to tell you that it’s more than worth your while to watch this demo video for the iPhone title “Endless Racing Game.” We can’t attest to how fun (or not fun) the game is to play, but the clip is certainly worth your 90 seconds of attention. Check it out after the break.

[Thanks, Lena]

Continue reading ‘Endless Racing Game’ iPhone demo video isn’t endless, is endlessly entertaining

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‘Endless Racing Game’ iPhone demo video isn’t endless, is endlessly entertaining originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jibbigo iPhone app translates from English to Spanish and back again

Jibbigo is a recently released iPhone app which promises to help you out the next time you’re desperately trying to make yourself understood by your Spanish-speaking compadres. The app is capable of recording a sentence and translating it — essentially in real time — back to you. As you can see in the screencap above, you can speak either Spanish or English, and the translator will do its work, displaying both your original and a translation into the other language. The dictionary contains about 40,000 words, and the app is aimed at travelers. Jibbigo also requires the iPhone 3GS to make use of the bi-directional translation tools, and the app also reportedly functions a heck of a lot slower on anything other than the 3GS. The app is available now for $24.99.

[Via, iPodnn]

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Jibbigo iPhone app translates from English to Spanish and back again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free iPhone apps can now include in-app purchases

One of Apple’s many curious restrictions on iPhone apps has now been lifted. It used to be that, in order for developers to have microtransactions / in-app purchases, they had to charge something upfront for the software, essentially requiring consumers to pay at least twice, or not at all. Well, all that’s changed, as the company has sent word to its developer community that the restriction has been lifted, meaning those annoying “Lite” and “Full” versions cluttering the app store can now be one and the same, with folks downloading the demo and paying to upgrade from within the app itself, a model that’s worked to success in other software ecosystems like Xbox Live. Sure, there’s gonna be developers out there that abuse the newly-minted business model, but it’s not like anything was stopping them before when they charged $2 upfront only to get you again later. The mass email announcement is reprinted after the break. [Warning: read link requires iPhone developer account]

[Via Daring Fireball]

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Free iPhone apps can now include in-app purchases originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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David Hockney paints with his iPhone, results not typical

Artist David Hockney isn’t afraid of picking up new media — over the years, he’s used Polaroids, photocollages, and even fax machines to create his art — in addition to regular, old-fashioned painting. Now, he’s taken to using his iPhone to create new works of art. The resultant “paintings” have been exhibited at the Tate Gallery and Royal Academy in London, as well as galleries in Los Angeles and Germany. Like artist Jorge Colombo (whose iPhone fingerpainting was featured on the cover of The New Yorker), Hockney uses the iPhone app Brushes to create his works. In an interview with the New York Review of Books, Hockney notes that he prefers and still uses the original version of the app, not the more recent updates. Hmm… maybe the reason our own Brushes paintings stink is because we’re using the update!

[Via All Things D]

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David Hockney paints with his iPhone, results not typical originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom’s Car Kit for iPhone will be your co-pilot in October

Well, it just passed through the FCC last week, and it looks like TomTom itself is now finally getting a bit more specific about when its new Car Kit for iPhone will start shipping. While it’s still not providing an exact date just yet, the company’s newly-updated FAQ now says that the device will be available directly from TomTom sometime this October. What’s more, the company also says that the kit (which also works with the iPod touch) will be initially sold without the TomTom iPhone app, contrary to what was previously rumored, although it’s not clear if a bundle with the app will also be available at a later date.

[Via NaviGadget]

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TomTom’s Car Kit for iPhone will be your co-pilot in October originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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