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Hitchcock App Up
the Hitchcock storyboard app we mentioned a while back is up and running - it lets you work out film storyboards using photos on your iPhone. Vimeo demos here
23rd Sep 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
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Augment Me
Some good-looking augmented reality apps on the slate from developer Across Air. They are listed as being available 'as soon as iPhone OS 3.1 launches', which happened last week. Apparently that update included some code-improvements that will enable all this future mapping technology to unfold...
17th Sep 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Spotify For iPhone: Review
With a ton of never-played-CDs archived around my house, I've been looking for a reason to get rid of them and move forwards with technology. Spotify has been looking like a likely candidate to fill that gap for a while - although with little difference between their offering and the likes of Real Player or the current incarnation of Napster, I'm not sure why - as I would never have gone near them. I think their stand-alone app (and now iPhone/Android app) just came along at the right time, as the market matured to a suitable place.
At £10 a month it rivals the price of buying a new CD per month - with around 80% of the other music in the world thrown in as a bonus, although it is always disappointing when they don't have something - and as the Chimp iTunes is loaded with pre-release stuff it often seems a little behind. New releases generally become available as soon as you can buy them however, and a simple small auto-playlist from iTunes could fill the remaining gap.
I was a little unsure of the sound quality at first, though suspected my fading headphones to be the more guilty party - and Hot For Teacher sounded better and clearer than ever. While listening over 3G there were minor delays between tracks and it dropped out in a couple of notorious 3G black spots en route to work, but generally it's very acceptable. Changing the way you think about using the app can certainly improve things and offline syncing of playlists is a simple task - but it's the playlists themselves that highlight the main issue with both the desktop app and the phone version - the organisation of music. If you could sort and search within playlists like iTunes, you could easily build up favourite playlists, ratings and dynamic playlists too. Importing your owned music from iTunes would also be a major bonus.
With the desktop version of Spotify only at version 0.3.19 however, it's a very reasonable assumption that there's plenty more to come - and any success is bound to be met with a retaliatory offering from Apple, or at the very least Napster and Real Rhapsody - both of which allegedly have mobile versions under development. Exciting times.
P.S. Since launching the iPhone version, Spotify has reverted to an invite-only service in the UK. We have 2 invites for any struggling listeners in UK, Spain Sweden, Norway, Finland or France.
14th Sep 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Spotify For iPhone Is Here
In the app store now. Test drive coming soon, on a day pass if possible.
UPDATE: Day pass is not possible, so I guess a more thorough test is coming soonish.
UPDATE: I'm up and running - just need to remember to use it now. I have two invites if any struggling citizens in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France or Spain are on the sniff.
7th Sep 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Spotify For iPhone
Apple have said Spotify can come over and play. It's been accepted for the App store and will be available 'soon' for premium users.
Meanwhile, Sony have commented that Spotify brings in more income for them than the iTunes store...
iTunes 9 seems likely to arrive next week, with added social networking features. Let's see if Apple also come up with a service to compete with Spotify, which wouldn't be hard for them.
29th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Ziggy Stardust App
The music iPhone mash-up continues to find its feet. Check out this Ziggy Stardust app, bringing together some David Bowie with an archive of 600+ of Mick Rock's photos from the period.
24th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
GPush
The GPush application finally went on sale today, bringing Gmail instant-notification push email belatedly to the iPhone. £0.59 well spent in the App Store - get it here.
Of course, this makes it very likely that Google will flick the switch to enable it by default, as they have with the Android handsets and the Palm Pre...
17th Aug 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Spotify For iPhone review
hands on review of the Spotify app for iPhone. sounds interesting, though £120 a year to stream everything seems pretty steep in a way. although that's only 12 albums in ye olde music dollars I guess... less impressed with the dude's test playlists
4th Aug 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Augmented Reality
'Augmented Reality' is one of the buzz words of the moment, with location aware hardware and applications allowing you to add layers of data over a real-world interface. Check out this demo, where a GPS and Compass enabled iPhone can tell where you are and which way you are facing, before overlaying data and directions to nearby Tube stations. The App promises to be launched when iPhone OS 3.1 launches.
More data on Wikipedia.
22nd Jul 2009 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
5 Bike Apps
People are coming up with all sort of ingenious uses for the iPhone - typically as a means of replacing some other piece of hardware. WIRED has a round up of 5 bike-tech replacement apps.
21st Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Instapaper
Click read later, and website articles can be added to your Instapaper account, then compiled for iPhone reading at a later date.
14th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Hitchcock App
The forthcoming iPhone App Hitchcock sounds like it could be fun and even useful, allowing for easy storyboarding of your potential film projects.
13th Jul 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
HP Calculator apps
just in case you need to work out some important COS functions, here's a classic HP calculator app for the iPhone
6th Jul 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Power-less
The freaky-deaky world of wireless power is moving forward, with the new Palm Pre including a 'touchstone' power-pad - and now Wildcharge is offering a solution for the iPhone, which combines a desktop pad with a special case for the phone that includes the necessary black magic. That also has the possible advantage of letting all your devices charge of the one matt.
Wired has more details.
30th Jun 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
WWDC: iPhone 3 and more
Apple's big World Wide Developer's Conference kicks off today in San Francisco, and while big boss Steve Jobs is still benched with illness, sidekick Phil Schiller is expected to make some big announcements.
A new iPhone seems almost certain, with improvements likely to be made to the camera, a possible magnetometer to add digital compass capabilities. The biggest changes will likely be coming through the new 3.0 software - which should also be available to existing handset owners.
Changes to the way apps can work on the phone should lead to some good developments - so there's bound to be some additional announcements from third-party manufacturers. Personally, I'm hoping for an iPhone version of Spotify - to match the recently announced Android version. A rumoured Apple netbook seems a little less likely for tomorrow, but they'd better get a move on with that as again, Google's already on the case - expanding their Android platform into Acer's new line.
There will also likely be a demo and possible release date for latest edition of OSX, 10.6 'Snow Leopard'. Grr.
8th Jun 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Airfoil
Rogue Amoeba have released a free iPhone app (the creatively title Airfoil Speakers Touch) which turns their excellent Mac/PC desktop application Airfoil into a must-have.
Airfoil allows you to transmit the audio from any application on your laptop to the sound output of one of Apple's Airport Express routers. Indispensable for listening to Spotify without a dozen metres of cable tying you to the stereo.
If you're interested enough to still be reading, Airfoil Speakers Touch does away with the need for an Airport Express altogether, by turning your iPhone/iPod Touch into a receiver for the program to transmit to. Now you can sit your phone on top of the stereo and run a cable out of the line-out of the phone and into the line-in on your stereo while you pick your tunes from the comfort of a laptop on the sofa.
1st May 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
Zweiphone
Loving the old-school mod for the iPhone. Downgrade today.
29th Apr 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
iPhone Art
Nice set of images up at The Guardian (Article / Images) from iPhone artist Jorge Colombo, who uses the brushes application and his fingertips.
19th Mar 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
iPhone 3.0
The next iPhone OS update is coming w cut, copy & paste and pic messaging...
18th Mar 2009 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
Eno Apps
Brian Eno apps for the iPhone popping up: a bootleg version of Oblique Strategies and his own Bloom here's the promo blurb:
Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom's innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen. A generative music player takes over when Bloom is left idle, creating an infinite selection of compositions and their accompanying visualisations.
"Bloom is an endless music machine, a music box for the 21st century. You can play it, and you can watch it play itself." - Brian Eno
11th Oct 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
IMDB Mobile
There's no official mobile version of IMDB, but Nolan Brown's iPhone optimised site is a pretty good option. It's stripped down and fast, so sometimes worth using even on a desktop browser.
Meanwhile IMDB's main site continues it's WEb 2.0 update, centering the content. Boom!
15th Sep 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
Simplify Media
Simplify Media is a little program to let you access your music from a remote location. Once authorised, the program can load up your iTunes/Winamp/Rythmbox files on a distant computer or phone and let you stream away. There's a few hurdles (bandwidth, drm, connection availablity) but overall it works surprisingly well.
5th Sep 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
New Pods
New iPods are expected to be announced next week (September 9th), as well iTunes 8.0 and rumours of a possible iTunes music subscription service which for $130 a year would allow your to listen to about half of the tracks on the iTunes store. Presumably this kind of offering would tie in with the iPhone / iPods too - allowing you to call up new music wherever you are. Apple have been resistant to this model in the past, so it'll be interesting to see if they have changed their stance.
Nokia's "Comes With Music" service makes a similar offer, and is launching in the UK shortly.
3rd Sep 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
ichaos
iChaos in the US, with a batch of $50 iBooks on sale…bit like iKea
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17th Aug 2005 - Add Comment - Tweet