Just spotted this one via a post over at Gear Diary, and watched a video demo of this new iPhone ringtone making application called iRinger.
iRinger looks like a very good free option for ringtone creation - offering a very easy to use interface and a good, complete set of features - even down to letting you choose to export a newly created ringtone direct to iTunes or using SSH to directly transfer it to the iPhone.
This one is a Windows only application for now, so I’ve not given it a try as yet (too lazy just now to get iTunes setup on Fusion) - but it looks awfully good in the demo. Here’s some of the highlights of its feature list:
For more on iRinger, see its home page, or check out the demo video HERE …
via http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/07/20/iringer-free-full-featured-iphone-ringtone-maker/#more-4017
Posted on July 21st, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iPhone Ringtone, iphone applications, 3G iPhone | No Comments »
Some great news on iPhone App Store pricing today from Steve Jobs himself, talking to USA Today:
25% of apps will be free
90% of those for sale will cost $9.99 or less
Ever since the App Store was announced, there has been tons of guessing and speculation on how prices would pan out. I think the zero - $10 range is well within most people’s most optimistic guesses - certainly within mine - and I’m very glad to see this news.
Read on for another good App Store number and some of Jobs’ thoughts on the importance of the launch of it …
Jobs also told USA Today that the App Store will launch with more than 500 applications available. That seems a good number to me as well. High enough to have more than enough shiny new things to discover in the first few days of the store being around, but not so many that it’s overwhelming.
The article also includes some money quotes from Jobs on just how big a deal the App Store launch is:
“This is the biggest launch of my career.”
“When IBM introduced the PC, it was good, but it didn’t take off until people started discovering the software … The breadth of the applications dramatically differentiates the iPhone”
Nice to see some more App Store excitement from Steve. As many of us - certainly Dan and I - have been saying for quite a while, THIS is the really big thing happening - not just this week, but at any point so far in the iPhone’s history. This is where the whole notion of iPhone as a platform really starts to take off.
And if this initial great news on pricing is an indicator of how prices will shake out in the long term for iPhone apps, then the platform will really just be flat-out exploding before our eyes I think …
Source: USA Today via Engadget
Posted on July 10th, 2008 by admin
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If you’re planning to get yourself an iPhone 3G in just around five days, one of the first things you’ll probably be wanting to test out is just how fast your 3G speeds are. I know I’ll be keen to test this out early and often with the new iPhone.
There are bound to be tons of sites around for this testing, but here are a few I’ve noticed that look good:
http://testmyiphone.com - the one shown above left - nicely iPhone optimized page
http://iphonespeedtest.com - shown above right - also well optimized for the iPhone screen
http://i.dslr.net/tinyspeedtest.html - iPhone section of the well-known Dslreports site - not very nicely done for the iPhone (requires a lot of pinching and zooming) but a well-established testing resource.
Posted on July 7th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iphone applications, 3G iPhone | No Comments »
Declining to announce any plans for a native chat client at this point, Google has announced a Web-based, iPhone-optimized version of Google Talk. A company blog posting reads:
“Our new version of Google Talk is designed specifically for the iPhone and runs in the iPhone’s browser, so you don’t need to download or install anything. Just visit www.google.com/talk on your iPhone, sign in, and start chatting. And because it is built for the browser, it will work on today’s iPhones as well as on tomorrow’s 3G iPhones.”
Posted on July 7th, 2008 by admin
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eWallet is one of the apps I am most looking forward to in the upcoming iPhone App Store. It’s an award-winning, leading password manager / digital wallet application from Ilium Software, and one that I’ve used for many years on the desktop and on Palm and Windows Mobile devices.
Today Ilium have provided us with a sneak peek of what the iPhone version of this stellar program is going to look like, as well as a little more information on how ready the iPhone version is.
The screenshots look great, and the news on how close to ready to go eWallet is, is also very good …
Here’s part of what Marc Tassin, the Ilium Product Manager for eWallet, has to say in his Sneak Peak blog post today:
I am extremely excited about this application. It looks great, it’s easy to use, and while we’ve captured the iPhone feel it is in every way the eWallet software you’ve come to know and love.
I think it’s safe to say a lot of past, current, and future eWallet for iPhone users are going to feel the same way.
Marc’s blog post also talk about when we can expect to see eWallet for iPhone appear in the App Store. The bad news on that subject - Ilium are not sure yet. Like all iPhone developers, they are waiting on Apple’s approvals and processes and there is not a whole lot of information or confirmations flowing out from Apple just yet on exactly which titles are making it into the App Store on its launch day.
There’s some very good news on this subject though:
What I can tell you is that we have a finished product (I’ve been using it on my own iPhone for some time now) and we’re ready to roll as soon as Apple gives us the go ahead!
Excellent to hear that. Having used Ilium products - and eWallet in particular - for many years, I know that when they say a program is ready to go, it has been beta tested to the Nth degree and will be rock solid right out of the gate.
Here’s hoping Apple gets a move on and makes sure eWallet is in the App Store from Day 1.
For more details and lots more lovely screencaps, check out Ilium’s blog post at:
http://blog.iliumsoft.com/?p=388
via http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/07/01/ewallet-for-iphone-sneak-peek-screenshots/#more-3676
Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by admin
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So iPhone 3G is 3 weeks away and you are planning to make a super awesome iPhone app that you would like to sell in Apple stores, thanks to profit 70-30 profit sharing. Here are some of the ideas that would help my life if you do implement them. Also, make sure I get a free copy.
Ready to code? Go here - http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/
Posted on June 25th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: iphone applications, 3G iPhone | No Comments »
As the days continue to crawl by on the way to the opening of the iPhone App Store (on July 11th or just maybe sometime before that), I’ve been finding plenty of time to lust over a lot of hot-looking programs that have been announced as coming to the store. I’ve also been spending some time thinking on what sort of apps I really hope we’ll see in the App Store once it is active - and figure I’ll share some of those while we’re all waiting round.
One I’d definitely like to see is a good voice notes program - especially as I’ve been spoiled for choice in using two and a half quite good ones in the jailbreak environment. Those would be:
VNotes - the first voice notes app for the iPhone and still probably the cleanest and easiest to work with.
iPhone Recorder - from Dream Catcher (makers of the leading iPhone video recording app as well) - probably has the most complete set of options and features for any iPhone voice notes app.
moleskine - the ‘half’ entry here, as this is a very feature-rich general note-taking application, that happens to include a good voice notes capability as well.
via http://justanotheriphoneblog.com/wordpress/2008/06/23/iphone-app-store-wanted-apps-voice-notes/
Posted on June 24th, 2008 by admin
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Hitherto demonstrated native iPhone applications will provide functional augmentation to the the device and branch into areas untapped by Apple’s included software: gaming, instant messaging, image manipulation, and more. So far, however, we haven’t seen any planned applications that directly compete with or replicate the functionality of Apple’s bundled applications. Since the iPhone is now a true software platform with a rapidly growing installed base, hungry third-party developers are bound to seek pieces of Apple’s turf in spite of potentially mitigating verbiage in the iPhone SDK agreement. The first software category in which developers are likely to make a move: Web browsers. Firms like Mozilla and Opera aim to sink their hooks in any and all popular platforms, not excepting the iPhone.
Third-party browsers could bring a wealth of feature distinction to the iPhone. Mozilla’s recently debuted Firefox 3.0 differs significantly in form and function from Apple’s Safari for Mac OS X and Windows. A different rendering engine and fresh take on a browser’s touchscreen-optimized interface might be preferable to to some iPhone users. A third-party browser could — were it not for one nagging section of Apple’s SDK agreement — also incorporate one of the most requested features currently non-existent on the iPhone: an accessible third-party plug-in architecture that would allow the inclusion of Adobe Flash, RealPlayer and more.
The section of Apple’s iPhone SDK agreement that seemingly negates the possibility of a third-party Web browser with plug-in support:
“No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s) […] An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise.”
There exists considerable debate over what the aforementioned statement actually means, but one interpretation is that the agreement would not only prevent third-party applications’ usage plug-in implementations, but also disallow the use of HTML/JavaScript renderers that are not WebKit-based. That would make Firefox’s Gecko-based rendering engine a no-go.
Whether or not that interpretation is correct, it’s the basis of Mozilla’s current development tack. We spoke with company representatives who said that, based on their understanding, the iPhone SDK agreement excludes Firefox from running on the device. Hence, there are no immediate plans to bring the popular browser to the platform.
Regardless, Mozilla has posted a concept video ,which shows a Firefox mobile concept that would appear to work well on the iPhone. Some interesting touchscreen-optimized features are shown, including pull-to-reveal navigation controls, and the ability to see all open tabs simultaneously — a feature absent from MobileSafari. Features from Firefox 3.0, like the “Awesome Bar,” are also incorporated. The video’s narrator, Mozilla Labs’ head of user experience, Aza Raskin, notes that the concept is for touch interfaces, “not MultiTouch.”
If Mozilla’s conceptual designs reveal that the company has guarded optimism about the prospect of Firefox on the iPhone, the same can be said for competing browser developer Opera. An Opera representative told iPhone Atlas:
“Our goal is to make the Opera browser available on as many devices and platforms as possible. So while we can’t currently confirm that we’ll make an Opera version for the iPhone, it’s certainly something we have the opportunity to do in the future.”
Opera has already developed and shipped a version of its browser for other touchscreen-based mobile devices, including HTC’s Touch Diamond.
The distribution terms of Apple’s iPhone AppStore present intriguing complications for the prospect of sanctioned third-party browsers. Presumably, third-party iPhone browsers would be free, and Apple has promised to host and distribute approved free applications in the AppStore at no cost to the developer (Apple will yield a 30 percent cut of for-profit applications). As such, were, say, Firefox to make its way to the AppStore, Apple would essentially be hosting, promoting, and distributing a competitor’s product for nothing in return.
Firefox and Opera aren’t the only developers with a potential interest in bringing browsers to the iPhone.
Adobe has made it clear that it wants to see Flash on Apple’s mobile platform, and claims to already have Flash working in an iPhone emulator. The firm could, at least in theory, develop a browser based on Apple’s included WebKit API that features built-in Flash playback capabilities without a genuine plug-in architecture. Whether or not Apple would allow such a beast, however, remains to be determined.
via http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/06/20/third-party-iphone-web-browsers-mozilla-opera-plot/#more-764
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 by admin
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Although the upcoming iPhone 2.0 software update promises to allow *viewing* of all major Office doc formats, there will still be no built-in ability to edit those documents. There is a solution coming for editing Excel spreadsheets though, from a leading Mac Excel-compatible spreadsheet program publisher.
Mariner Calc for iPhone - from Mariner Software - will offer full Excel compatibility and editing capabilities on the fly.
Mariner Calc for iPhone is about 80% of the way to completion at this time and is expected to ship about the time the virtual doors open on the App Store. If you like to work on huge spreadsheets, you’ll love this app since it sports a maximum of 1,000,000 rows and 32,000 columns.
There is no word on pricing for Mariner Calc for iPhone yet, but this should prove a very popular app for lots of people out there who will need to be able to work with, not just view, Excel data on their iPhones.
Posted on June 19th, 2008 by admin
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It hasn’t been a super lively last few days for new items in Installer, but here’s a little something that cropped up late tonight - some new skins for the iPhone’s Calculator app.
They’re from Carolina Fernandez, via the ModMyiFone source, and they come in blue and green varieties. Both give the app a little more jazzy and upbeat feel and add a little lift if you’re after that for the Calculator.
I’m not a big user of the Calculator at the best of times, but I prefer these to the built-in look and will most likely keep the blue one around for now. So far, I’ve not seen an easy way to swap in and out the skins without just uninstalling one and leaving the other in order to have it be in effect.
The new calculator skins are available now via Installer
Posted on June 16th, 2008 by admin
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