Iphone Apps

TomTom talks iPhone, iOS 4 multitasking - TiPb at WWDC 2010

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Jun 8, 2010 a 9:03 pm

Tom Murray, SVP of Marketing, TomTom sat down with me to discuss their turn-by-turn navigation app for the iPhone. Announced at WWDC 2009, over the last year TomTom has managed to get the app to where all its core functionality is in place and they can give iPhone users a really first-class tool to get them from point A to point B. Now, with iOS 4 and its multitasking API for location, they can start getting them in style.

Since TomTom does everything from owning their own maps to selling their own devices, they're uniquely positioned do things like crowd-source changes in roads or analyze patterns in routes and get that fed back into their system so their 40 million users can share local wisdom whether they're improving their daily commute or driving in a new city for the first time.

With the iPhone, Apple is providing the device (and the GPS) but TomTom still offers a car kit to supplement and extend the built-in hardware. (I asked if the existing car kit would be compatible with the just-introduced iPhone 4, but they hadn't had a chance to get their hands on it yet so they're waiting to whether it fits, whether it requires an adapter, or whether some reengineering will be in order).

No word on an iPad version yet, unfortunately, but turn-by-turn navigation on smartphones is still growing. With free-as-in-Google and open source map apps now on the scene, TomTom is investing in the quality of their service and the trust in their data.

Check out our video interview, after the break!

[TomTom on iTunes]

Chaos Rings for iPhone- app review

By Chad Garrett, Tuesday, Jun 8, 2010 a 8:14 pm

Chaos Rings is the ultimate RPG thus far on the iPhone. Square Enix has done a fabulous job bringing the console RPG experience we have come to love on to our beloved Apple devices.

Our story begins with several pairings of unlikely partners thrust into a battle they do not wish to fight in a tower competing for rings. Starting the game you are given two choices for characters. Both teams include two people and you are always a party of two. When beginning, you are given a choice of two pairs and both have a similar story but different dialog. Each team has a stronger "fighter" type of character and the other is more of a support/magic character.

Guitar Hero now available in App Store

By Leanna Lofte, Tuesday, Jun 8, 2010 a 1:11 am

As announced during the WWDC 2010 keynote, the widely popular guitar game Guitar Hero is now available for iPhone and iPod touch.

With Guitar Hero, you will be able to "play" songs from multiple rock artists by tapping, strumming and sliding to the music. It also features robust avatar customization and social integration so you can share to Facebook and view leaderboards.

Guitar Hero will include the following tracks:

Apple announces iMovie for iPhone

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Jun 7, 2010 a 2:09 pm

As part of the iPhone 4 introduction during WWDC 2010, Steve Jobs announced iMovie for iPhone, with one-click sharing. This is basically iMovie from the iLife suite for Mac brought to the iPhone. Up to 720p editing and most of the functionality you'd expect, including transitions and Ken Burns effects.

New iPhone apps: Netflix, Farmville, Guitar Hero

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Jun 7, 2010 a 1:29 pm

Steve Jobs made millions of iPhone app lovers happy today during the WWDC 2010 keynote by bringing development houses up to introduce Netflix, Farmville,

Netflix, already on the iPad, brings the same great search and adaptive video streaming technology to the iPhone, which means 3G (and AT&T data caps make sense now, right?). Available this summer.
Farmville goes Flash-free and today invents farming- - with push -- for the iPhone. Available end of June.
Guitar Hero, with Queen, Rolling Stones, Vampire Weekend. Available now!

[Images via Engadget]

Pregnancy Tracker from WhatToExpect.com for iPhone - app review

By Leanna Lofte, Friday, Jun 4, 2010 a 5:28 pm

What to Expect when Expecting is one of the most popular pregnancy books available, and they also have an app to compliment their book and website. Pregnancy Tracker from WhatToExpect.com is an iPhone application for pregnant women to keep track of their pregnancy.

There are 5 sections of Pregnancy Tracker. The home screen, called "tracker", is where you see your due date, a countdown to your due date, Baby's gestational age, what trimester you're in, and something to compare your baby's size to. (This week, my baby is the size of a butternut squash!)

The Weekly tab provides useful information about what to expect with your body and also the changes that are happening in your baby's development. This section is very thorough and gives quite a bit of information.

The Daily tab is my favorite part of Pregnancy Tracker because I haven't seen this in another pregnancy application before. Here you are given a new tip, fact, or reminder each day. Most apps have something similar, but it only changes weekly.

You can store photos related to your pregnancy in the Photos tab.

The last tab is for Forums. This is a great section to communicate with other moms and moms-to-be about pregnancy or anything else related. What makes the forums even better is that they are the same forums that you can find on WhatToExpect.com. This opens up the conversations to anyone, not just iPhone users.

Pregnancy Tracker is a great pregnancy application that is packed with information. The main thing it's lacking is good pictures; It would be really nice if nice pregnancy related pictures were added to the app. Other than that, I have been very happy with Pregnancy Tracker. And the best part... it's free!

Video and screenshots after the break!

New and notable iPhone and iPad apps for June 4, 2010

By Staff, Friday, Jun 4, 2010 a 9:08 am

Sure, new and notable iPhone and iPad apps isn’t a theme, but with so many new and such a large swathe of notable, who needs a theme? Join us after the break to see what’s going on in the iTunes App Store this week!

iPhone at work: Creative carpentry

By Staff, Thursday, Jun 3, 2010 a 11:49 am

How does a self-employed, creative carpenter use his iPhone to get the job done and what iPhone apps help get him through her day? TiPb's iPhone at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPhone life. Here's Farmdread's answer and as a small token of thanks we're sending him a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPhone Forum and share your story now!

I'm a self-employed general contractor specializing in creative carpentry (oh, and I also build giant puppets.) Here’s my story:

Why Apple may be removing desktop/dashboard/widget apps from the App Store

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Jun 2, 2010 a 9:46 pm

Since the iPad launch on April 3, TiPb's been getting tips about desktop/dashboard/widget-style apps being removed first from the iPad App Store, then from the iPhone App Store as well. There are a number of examples, some well known by now, some relatively unknown. The commonality between all of them is that they've tried to somehow make the iPad or iPhone into a Mac- or PC-like screen filled with mini-apps like browsers, email clients, calculators, weather, etc.

Some look almost exactly like Apple's Mac Dashboard, other like Windows of various flavors. Others don't look like desktops at all but rather place widgets on top of photos or other, more specific backgrounds.

Devs have worked around this by using a much more restricted metaphor, like a double tiled display, or by going the Jailbreak route, or they haven't worked through it and just gotten frustrated at the opacity of the App Store review process and not known how to proceed.

I can't claim any special insight or information on this, but my best guess is that Apple is removing (or advising they will be removing since not all of them have been pulled yet) the apps for the same reason they originally didn't include cursor (arrow) keys on the Mac. It's a pretty well known story and one that's been used a few times in different commentaries on the iPhone and iPad and Apple's direction thereof, but it bears repeating.

Splinter Cell Conviction for iPhone- app review

By Chad Garrett, Wednesday, Jun 2, 2010 a 2:25 pm

Sam Fisher is back in Splinter Cell Conviction for iPhone and iPod Touch. Having played the original way back when on the Xbox, it was interesting see how the game has matured years later on the iPhone. The game has morphed into more of a run n' gun type of game. Yes, you still have to try to be stealthy, but not like the games of old. If you feel like it, just walk right in and start shooting. I actually like this as it gives you a choice in play style; covert or action.

Sam is out for revenge to find out who has killed his daughter; basically, he doesn't care who or what gets in his way to uncover the truth. The game spans 13 levels in 8 different locations and with this mobile iteration of the franchise you get some new gameplay mechanics. First, you are given icons next to cover you can run to. Simply tap the in screen action icon and Sam will run and cover to that location. You can do this successively assuming there is an "icon" to run to.

Next, you get a nifty after shadow that appears on screen to indicate where the enemy thinks you are, or your last known location to them. This adds a fantastic play mechanic that is horribly underutilized. It would have been great to throw small objects or something and cause the enemy to head towards that location. Instead it is used only when you are detected and enemies will head to that area.

You are also given the ability, albeit only in certain situations, to target multiple enemies to take them out with a single button press. Regretfully, you can't use this any time you want, only in certain situations. This is the biggest downside to Splinter Cell Conviction, its restrictiveness. The game plays well, look gorgeous and is fun, but is hampered by the inability to use some of these cool play mechanics on the users terms. It is this flaw that prevents this title from being the near perfect game it so wants to be.

Should you get Splinter Cell Conviction? Good question. If you are a casual gamer looking for a little stealth action, then yes, you can't go wrong. If you are a hardcore gamer, the limitations might prove a little frustrating. For me, I like it and will continue to play it, but I will always be wishing I has complete control over Sam. Check the video and screens after the break!

[$9.99- iTunes Link]