Old World Publishers Confirm Digital Store

It looks as if the rumors of major publishers getting together to agree upon a set of open standards for a new digital storefront are indeed true. Today Apple Insider is reporting that Condé Nast, Hearst, News Corporation, Time Inc., and Meredith all have officially announced this collaboration.

“For the consumer, this digital initiative will provide access to an extraordinary selection of engaging content products, all customized for easy download on the device of their choice, including smartphones, e-readers and laptops,” said Squires, the interim managing director. “Once purchased, this content will be ‘unlocked’ for consumers to enjoy anywhere, anytime, on any platform.”

At first the store will solely be for newspapers and magazines with the possibility of books, comic books, blogs and more in the future. The publishers are now working on a reading application that will allow the reader to get that experience of the specific publications. Hopefully they come up with something that wows us.

Google Introduces Favorite Places for iPhone

Google’s “Favorite Places on Google” is a new program that really refines the term “window shopping”. Google has sent out 100,000 window decals to various stores and restaurants that the business will place on their door or window. Once the decal is in place, an iPhone user can use the app QuickMark [Free for the first 40,000 downloads - iTunes Link] to snap a picture of the decal and then you will find reviews, coupons if the business are offering them or you can even star a business so you can remember it in the future. Google also claims that in the near future you will be able to review places directly on your iPhone as well.

Currently you can find these decals in over 9,000 towns and cities all over the U.S. and if you are curious to check out what is in your city be sure to visit the site, Favorite Places on Google.

If any of you see these decals around your town, be sure to let us know how well it works for you!

Apple Makes iPhone Developer News and Announcements Available via RSS

Apple has sent out an email to developers that informs them iPhone developer news and announcements are now available via RSS feed.

You can now subscribe to a new RSS feed for iPhone Developer News and Announcements. Stay up to date and receive valuable information on a wide range of topics including:
Tips on submitting apps to the App Store
Current turnaround time for app review
Program updates
Development and testing techniques

If you’re a developer, let us know if you find this helpful. Also, if iPhone 3.2 beta news pops up the feed, let us know and we’ll cancel the “missing” posters

Harbor Master - iPhone Fun Application

Harbor Master is an Fun, addictive and competitive game where your goal is Dock your ships, unload their cargo, and then guide them back out safely so the next ship can dock.

Features:

- 3 unlockable maps, each with its own set of geographical and natural challenges
- 3 types of ships. Smaller ships are faster, but carry less cargo.
- Online high scores
- Multi-Touch support - try playing with a friend!
- Amazing polished graphics
- Original soundtrack - or relax and listen to your own music instead!
- Incredibly addictive gameplay
- Need to take a break or take a call? Don't worry - the game automatically saves for you!
- Supports multiple profiles on one device

As you unload more and more cargo, your expert services will be requested at other ports. But be careful - every port has its own set of challenges! Watch out for the cyclones!

iPhone Game-Pinball Fantasies

Languages: English
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch Requires iPhone OS 2.2 or later

Cowboy Rodeo has published the Pinball Fantasies game for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch, a successor to the wildly popular iPhone port of the classic Pinball Dreams by Cowboy Rodeo.

Pinball Fantasies is the official iPhone version of the classic Amiga pinball arcade simulator originally released in 1992 and is the successor to the wildly popular Pinball Dreams! 

 

It features the 4 original tables with remastered graphics and yet again comes with 100% of the original addictive game play. The game can be played in both portrait and landscape orientation.

Cowboy Rodeo is an independent Finland-based game developer working on Apple iPhone and Sony PSP platforms. You can find the game in iTunes App Store

Vocalia 2.0 Speech Recognition Software

Want speech recognition but don't have an iPhone 3GS? No problem. Vocalia 2.0 is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch running OS 3.0. Much like the voice command on the iPhone 3GS, the Vocalia can find contact/company to call or email to, start music playback by artist or group and launch web site, all by voice command.

With Vocalia, you can...
• Define additional vocal shortcuts in addition to the contact name ("My best friend" for "John Doe")
• Split first and last name of your contacts (saying "John" will display all corresponding entries of your address book)
• Set the navigation mode (voice, manual taps or timer)
• Activate Proximity sensing for better recognition results in noisy environments
• Shake the iPhone to try again
• Activate vibration so that you know when to start speaking
• Import bookmarks from your Mac

iDisk app from apple

MobileMe iDisk, This app lets you login, view files, and share files by sending others a link via email to anything you like. You have plenty of storage space, even large files are no problem. Just add the files you need to your iDisk, and whatever you upload will be there for you to download using a web browser on any computer or using the iDisk App for iPhone or iPod touch.
Sharing files too big to email as attachments is a snap with iDisk.

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iTunes advertises the following features for the iDisk app:

• View files on your iDisk
  
• Access Public folders
  
• Easily share files from your iPhone
  
• Quickly access recently viewed files
  
• View iPhone supported file types, including iWork, Office, PDF, Quicktime and more (files larger than 20MB may not be viewable).

It is available in English, French, German and Japanese, and requires a MobileMe subscription along with iPhone OS 3.0

UPDATED: Record iPhone 3G Video! Ustream Live Broadcaster Now Available for iPhone

 UPDATE: Yes, Ustream Live Broadcast is iPhone 3G compatible, and you can use it to record video from the iPhone 3G (no Jailbreak for Cycorder required!). If you’re trying it out on a 3G, let us know how it works for you!
ORIGINAL: Ustream Live Broadcaster [Free - iTunes link] for iPhone has arrived, enabling users to point their iPhone cameras and instantly share whatever they’re looking at with internet viewerseverywhere (terms of service appropriate, thankfully).

It’s been a long, slow road getting live video up-streaming onto the iPhone, with Ustream in specific releasing a limited viewer-only app first, then a record-now-upload-later app. Does this mean the gates are open for yet another previously unavailable category? We’ll see. And while we’re happy with video, we’re still waiting for VoIP over 3G as well.

Meanwhile, we’re bracing ourselves for the flood of “Come see me live” posts to flood our Twitter feeds. So just do us a favor and point that iPhone camera at something interesting, will ya?

iTunes Connect Unavailable December 23 – 28, 2009

No sooner did Apple get their new iPhone developer-centric RSS feed up and running than they’re used it to announce that iTunes Connect will be unavailable December 23 – 28, 2009:

iTunes Connect, the tool you use to manage your applications and access your reports, will be unavailable from December 23 through December 28, 2009.
Access to iTunes Connect will resume December 29, 2009.

The post is called #holidays, so is this totalitarian Apple trying to force developers to relax a little and enjoy some down time? Are they hoping to give the App Store reviewers the week off? Or will the busy Cupertino elves be doing some re-working behind the scenes? We haven’t heard any rumors of a new iTunes Connect, or new functionality for the New Year, but if Apple can keep chipping away at developer sore spots, it could make for a great 2010…

Yet More Mythical iTablet Rumors: Coming March for $1000

Marketwatch is citing “checks” and saying that Apple’s unannounced, still mythical iTablet will begin production in February, “implying” a launch in March or April. The iTablet and also-unnannounced companion services delivered via iTunes are said to feature:

• 10.1 inch multi-touch LCD (no OLED)
• Traditional Apple 30/70 split for print publishers (which is better than Amazon’s traditional 50/50)
• To be sold at an average price of $1,000 at a 22% margin

Price sounds high to us. Apple has had tablet concepts in the vault since before the iPhone but they’ve never made it past Steve Jobs. He’s going to need to see a market for them and a price that delivers that market. Apple is premium, but they’ve already got the iPod touch at under $500 and the MacBook at over $1000 (both of which provide great balances of portability and functionality). If a place exists for an iTablet, it would seem to be between those two points.

Apple, Apple iPhone, Apple iPod, Google, iPhone, iPhone Camera, iPhone News, iPod, Latest News about iPhone, Microsoft, Motorola iPhone, Nokia, Samsung Armani, Smart Phones, Windows Mobile

Nuance’s Dragon Dictation for iPhone raised some privacy concerns upon launch due to the server-side nature of its transcription and the apparent transmission of users’ contact list to Nuance’s servers. Addressing at least some of these concerns, Nuance has posted the following statement:

Some people have expressed concern about what the new Dragon Dictation for the iPhone application does with your contact information. As you may have experienced already, Dragon Dictation for the iPhone goes through your contact list on your iPhone and uploads the names to our server. We do this for a pretty simple reason: we found that people are often dictating names from their address book and expect the names to be recognized.

We take this information and create an anonymous user profile for your device that understands what names are likely to dictate into a document. It’s important to note that we only upload the names, not the e-mail addresses, phone numbers or any other personally identifying information from your contacts.
Even though there is no personally identifying information, we still treat all of this information with the highest privacy standards. All of our servers are located in the United States and meet the most stringent privacy and security standards. We conform to these high standards because we use the same data centers for other areas of our business where we are required to store personal information.

All of this is spelled out in our license agreement that comes with the Dragon Dictation for the iPhone application. Since most people only see that license agreement briefly when they are installing the software (and they usually can’t wait to start using their software, so they don’t spend 30 minutes reading a complex legal document…), we provided a link to that agreement here: http://www.nuance.com/company/privacy/.

So the bottom line is that nothing scary is happening with your data and we only use a little bit of information from your phone to help make the dictation accuracy as high as possible. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to post them here.
Michael Thompson, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Nuance Mobile

Of course, Nuance is storing all your transcriptions on their servers, which while not dissimilar to Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, or Apple storing all your email, documents, location, etc. is an important factor for users to keep in mind so as to make informed decisions about services and the companies behind them.
Let us know what you think of the statement, and if it does indeed address your concerns (or not).

Announcing The 3rd Annual Smartphone Round Robin!

We are ridiculously excited to announce that today we’re launching the 3rd annual Smartphone Round Robin! If you’ve never heard of the Round Robin, buckle up: Each year the sites of the Smartphone Experts Network spend some time out of our comfort zone, examining the platforms of our sister sites and learning how other smartphone users live. This year, the event will span six weeks, eight sites, over a dozen phones, over five hours of video, hundreds of photos, several hours of podcasts, dozens of discussion threads, and of course dozens of comparison reviews. Seriously.

What’s in it for you? Plenty, we hope. To start with, each site will be giving away one smartphone (or your choice!) representing its platform. We have a Twitter contest for accessory prizes every week too. You can find contest details here.

More than that, though, every year we hear from grateful readers who have said the Round Robin helped them decide on their next smartphone, made them happier about the one they have, or even compelled some to switch outright. Researching and learning six platforms and all the phones on each is a massive undertaking – so we’re doing it for you and you can just follow along.

If you want to know more about how to play along with this crazy event, where we explain the contest, the schedule, the participants, and even have an archive of the last two events.

The event begins in earnest on Monday, but today we’re releasing the first of several podcasts, all of which are hosted by our friends at The Cell Phone Junkie.  We’ll toss direct links to download and subscribe after the break, plus let you know who’s playing along this year.

Rumors we Love: Apple iTablet to Bring Back “Think different”

If Apple does release a mythical iTablet, could the mythical advertising return them to the glorious campaign of “Think different” past? TiPb doesn’t take anything involving the iTablet as anything approaching news, but seeing as how our site was originally called “Phone different” this particular rumor warmed even our frozen, jaded little blogger hearts.

And, frankly, we’d love to see a refreshed, renewed, Think different on our TV and in our webs.

Time Magazine Ranks the Moto Droid Ahead of the iPhone 3GS

Time magazine has made the Motorola Droid its number 1 gadget of the year while our beloved iPhone ranked in at number 4 behind the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader, and the Dyson Air Multiplier. What pushed the Droid to the top of the heap of these gadgets was the combination of its Motorola hardware and Android 2.0 software.

“A smartphone operating system isn’t all that satisfying without an actual kick-ass smartphone wrapped around it. Now Android has one: The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don’t miss it. The Droid’s touchscreen is phenomenally sharp and vivid, it has an actual physical (not great, but good enough) keyboard, and best of all, the Droid is on Verizon’s best-of-breed 3G network. It’s Android’s first credible challenge to the http://petnol.blogspot.com/http://petnol.blogspot.com/.”

The reason why the iPhone 3GS ranked in at number 4, well to put it simply, was the lack of new features.

“Take the iPhone. Make it faster. There, you’re done. Yes, the 3GS has a better camera — with video. And it has a compass and voice control. Those are all improvements over the original.”

AT&T Ready to Improve Service in New York and San Francisco — Just Don’t Use that Unlimited Data

AT&T is finally opening up and coming clean about their sub par service that is offered in areas of New York and San Francisco. Ralph de la Vega, chief executive of AT&T Mobility, recently spoke at a investors conference regarding the poor service.

“This is going to get fixed, in both of those markets, I am very confident that you’re going to see significant progress.”

Obviously this is good news for those of you in these areas. Worse news? AT&T might use “unlimited” to sell you your data plan, but they obviously don’t intend for you to use it. And if you do, watch out.

Wireless data hogs who jam the airwaves by watching video on their iPhones will be put on tighter leashes.

Video. The horror!

De la Vega didn’t say exactly how or when the carrier would change its policies, but he said some form of usage-based pricing for data is inevitable.

If one stops to think about the other carriers getting more attractive smartphone options and the fact that AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity is running thin… AT&T better figure things out and fast.

Apple Hiring Video Game Artist for iPhone Gaming Group!

Apple’s job listings just got interesting again, with positions open for a Video Game Artist and a Software Engineer for the iPhone Gaming Group. That’s right, “iPhone Gaming Group”. It looks like that Game/Media Software Engineer position from last month wasn’t a one off, and Apple is finally, seriously, getting into the game… game. (Sorry, but you saw that coming!)
For the artist:

The interactive media group is looking for a skilled artist who wants to work as part of a small highly motivated team to work on interactive multimedia experiences on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The position on the team is to help design, visualize, enable and implement interface, 3D characters/environments, animation, texturing as well as original concept artwork.

For the engineer:

The iPhone Games Group is looking for a proactive, highly motivated engineer with 5 + years experience, to share their expertise in application and framework development.

So, how about it? Sounds like a lot of firepower for “Texas Holdem’ 2″, doesn’t it? Think we’ll finally see some Sony or Nintendo caliber 1st party gaming coming out of Apple? And if so, what would they be?

Blackberry desktop manager for Mac hits on October 2

If you are a Mac head, that has ties to the Blackberry camp rather than the beloved iPhone you haven’t been able to get the Blackberry Desktop Manager Software. Gizmodo reports that the Mac version of the Blackberry Manager is set to hit early next month.



That’s sooner rather than later, October 2 is Friday already. The software will make synchronizing a Blackberry with your Mac a simple operation.

I am not a Mac or a Blackberry user, but presumably, before this official software, synchronizing the Mac and a Blackberry was something that required workarounds or third party offerings. There is no word on if the software will be free or will have a price attached. Presumably, it will be free.

Pantech Showcases Crystal IM-S500K

A brand new handset for the female gender from Pantech has just been announced. Pantech’s latest ladies phone, the Crystall IM-S500K, is designed to please women and only women. The new IM-S500K Crystal has a diamond pattern plate located on the front, which is covered by lights and icons.

Its features list is pretty average, since the feminine phone packs a 2 megapixel camera module, a 2.4 inch QVGA LCD, an MP3player, a dictionary and a subway map. Among others, The new IM-S500K Crystal has an interesting feature, it will have a biorhythm calculator which displays the user’s current mood on the cover itself .



Pantech Crystal IM-S500K will be available in three colors: pink, silver and black. It is no words about price.

Motorola Ruby V13 Passes Bluetooth SIG

A new Motorola handset has been spotted at the Bluetooth SIG here and it’s actually the Ruby that could get launched as the Motorola V13. Although it did make its rounds in press photo circles after that, The Motorola Ruby clamshell was thought of to be canceled.

The specs listed by the Bluetooth SIG includ : 2.2 inch QVGA internal display, 2 inch QVGA external touchscreen display, CDMA/Ev-Do connectivity, Bluetooth and 5MP camera with autofocus and flash.Sadly, there is no info on a release date concerning that phone as of now.

Nokia's 6350 handset coming to AT&T on October 4th

Nokia on Thursday launched the 6350, a flip phone specific to AT&T. The simple handset will be available in red and graphite and carry dedicated external music keys. Data over 3G and a 2-megapixel camera put it closer to the mid-range.

The higher-speed access gives it support for e-mail, one-way video sharing and the web, as well as a boost for AT&T's subscription mapping service. Talk time is rated at four hours. The Nokia 6350 will be available from AT&T online starting on October 4th and should cost just $30 with a two-year AT&T contract and after a mail-in rebate.

Windows Mobile to reach 15% of smartphones in 2013?

In spite of common perception, Windows Mobile could take second place in the smartphone market in as little as four years, an iSuppli study predicted today. Analysts estimate that the phones shipped will triple from 27.7 million by the end of this year to 67.9 million in 2013, or enough to give it 15.3 percent of the industry behind Nokia's predicted 47.6 percent. Microsoft is expected to slip to third this year but to recover over time.

The return to form is founded in a belief that Microsoft has the "major cards" needed to have a successful mobile platform. Windows Mobile is already well established with carrier support and a substantial app library, while it now also has an app store (Windows Marketplace for Mobile).

Its age is considered a problem, as its interface is harder to use than an iPhone's and doesn't support the capacitive touchscreens needed for multi-touch and other more intuitive finger input. However, senior analyst Tina Teng believes the launch of Windows Mobile 7 in 2010 will render Microsoft "much more competitive" precisely because it should solve both of these problems. She also dismisses the losses of Motorola and Palm as clients for Windows Mobile, saying that neither were significant enough to make an impact while the recent addition of LG will be much more important. Windows Mobile has more licenses than anyone with 14 versus Symbian's 10.

The study doesn't address Nokia's own falling market share or outside factors, such as the maturation of younger platforms like Android and iPhone. Android has often been cited as the most direct competitor to Windows Mobile as it can be licensed by nearly any developer but is significantly less expensive to license and develop than Windows Mobile.

Mark/Space intros Missing Sync for Android

Developer Mark/Space has announced The Missing Sync for Android, expanding the company's phone support. The new program allows users to sync with a phone based on Google's Android platform, such as the HTC Hero. Version 1.0 supports syncing contacts with Address Book and Entourage, as well as copying over music, photos, podcasts, ringtonesand/or videos, primarily from an iTunes or iPhoto library.

Users can also sync PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. The app cannot sync DRM-restricted content however, and features such as calendar, note and bookmark sync will not be introduced until later v1.x releases. Options like Wi-Fi sync and the ability to save call and SMS histories are also planned. Public previews of Missing Sync for Android are scheduled to become available next week, followed by an official v1.0 launch "later" in October.

Moto Sholes to reveal as the Droid

Motorola's Sholes has received a new name, and details of when it should be unveiled, through a new slip of information. Unnamed contacts for BGR have claimed it will simply be called the Droid when it ships and that it should be unveiled for Verizon in two weeks. They add that, unlike the Cliq, the phone should be a full "with Google" device and will run a regular version of Android instead of Motorola's social network-heavy MOTOBLUR.

The news follows posts of several photos of the Droid from the user of a pre-release example that confirm the look of the device as well as that it should be running at least Android 1.6, which supports the new-look Android Market. Google's Latitude friend service has also been spotted running in the map utility.

Electronista has been able to independently confirm additional rumors as to the shipping timeframe of the Droid. People familiar with Verizon's plans expect the 5-megapixel touchscreen slider to ship in early December.

Samsung Giorgio Armani SPH-W8200 poses for the camera

Images and specs of the Samsung Armani W8200 have finally been spotted online, some five months after it was first promised. What has been gleaned is that the device sports a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen along with a slide-out hardware keypad. The device will support high-speed HSDPA data networks.

Otherwise, there is a DMB TV tuner, Bluetooth and a 5-megapixel camera. Storage will be expandable through a micro SD memory card slot, but it's unknown how much internal memory is retained. Unlike what was previously expected, however, it appears the device won't ship with Windows Mobile but rather a proprietary Samsung OS.

Despite the leak, shipping dates or pricing for the Samsung Armani handset are unknown. Judging from the source of the images, it's likely the device will launch in Korea first.

Palm Pixi to ship October 20?

Palm's Pixi may already be in stores in less than three weeks' time if a leak proves true. A new but seemingly realistic source for BGR claims that the phone will be in stores on October 20th. The release would be complete and include not just Sprint's own stores but Best Buy and other third-party chains as well.

The cost of the phone or its customizable shells wasn't mentioned. Unofficially, however, the Pixi is believed to come in at $100 or less as it will take the Centro's former place at Sprint. Palm has already dropped the price of the Pre down to $150 despite its having a better camera, a larger screen and Wi-Fi.

iPhone Game - Orbital

Orbital is based on the online game “Gimme Friction Baby” but makes the gameplay much more exciting . This game plays exactly like a brick breaker game except that instead of destroying bricks, you must destroy orbs. Each orb has the number “3″ in it which indicates the number of times that the orb must be hit in order to be destroyed. After 3 hits, the orb explodes into a colorful barrage of star dust and you are awarded with 1 point.

However, the game does come with a twist. Each time you fire your weapon at one of the orbs, the projectile you launched becomes an orb itself that must be destroyed like the rest. The game also adds extra points if you get double or triple hits by destroying more than one orb at the same time.

The higher your score, the better, as you can enter yourself into the global high score lists. The high score lists also include two standings which are high score in a 24 hour period and all-time high score. You can also compare your score with your friends through the in-app FaceBook integration.

The great thing about Orbital, and these game types in general, is the game is seemingly endless. The only obstacle that you must watch out for is the “death line”. If your orb that you shoot touches this line, the game is over. You only get one life, so use it wisely! However it is this one life mechanic that I really do not like about the game. Then again, it is probably because I keep dieing. BTW Orbital delivers a great multiplayer experience in which the game orients itself between player turns so that the active player always views the gameplay area in the correct direction.

Rivals Dogpile on Amazon

Jeff Bezos named his company after the longest and largest river in the world. So it's appropriate that the past week has shown just how influential Amazon has become in both the online and offline retail spaces, as competitors and the Seattle-based e-commerce giant threw a series of punches and counter-punches.

Try to keep up with the opponents' jabs :

• On Friday, real-world retail behemoth Wal-Mart announced price cuts to as low as US$10, and free shipping, for some forthcoming titles by Sarah Palin, John Grisham and Stephen King when pre-ordered on its Web site. The retailer is also cutting prices on books now available in its stores as Wal-Mart attempts a combined bricks-and-mortar/online attack on Amazon's bookselling dominance.
• Google announced that next year it will offer Google Editions, the search company's strategy for online bookstores that will enable consumers to read e-books on any device with a Web browser.
• Earlier in the week, Gizmodo posted some leaked images of what may be a Barnes & Noble-branded e-reader with touchscreen capabilities. The photos spread throughout the blogosphere, with some headlines actually employing the phrase "Kindle-killer."

Independence Is Dangerous : Microsoft

"Danger's platform was unique, and the migration would have to be done without disrupting the current user base," Enderle explained. Danger may have stopped doing full backups before Microsoft acquired it and perhaps did not reinstitute the practice.

That could have caused the delay in restoring data. "When the problem occurred, the redundant backup was not initially available, and Microsoft had to rebuild the database," Enderle said.

"Generally, unless the storage medium has been destroyed, there are a number of ways, all expensive, to recover from something like this, and it appears they were successful," he explained.

"The problem was the result of bad practices meeting bad circumstances," Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, "but it does call into question what consumers can and should expect from a hosted services provider."

Microsoft had probably not fully audited Danger's IT procedures, according to Enderle.

"That's not an uncommon mistake in an acquisition, but one that can be avoided if the acquisition team doing the review is experienced," he said. "Mistakes can happen, and this was a big one."