Tag Archive for ‘apps’
According to 3 UK, the Apple iPhone 4 is about to be released this week. The virtual network operator has made the announcement earlier and has confirmed that interested buyers may call ahead to schedule an appointment with 3 UK store staff so that they may be accommodated on launch day.
So far, it is not known if there will be a queue for 3 stores, but with the demand for the iPhone 4 still going strong, it is likely that customer will certainly need to book an appointment in advance to be able to get a handset on the release date. It has also been announced that 3 UK stores will be opening early this July 30th so expect to have booking options available quite early in the morning as well.
Of course, many smart phone fans might be wondering if the iPhone 4 from 3 UK will come with a complementary iPhone 4 bumper. The answer, so far, is a no. According to Apple, the only way to acquire the free bumper is for users to download the official Apple bumper app from iTunes and use their account to acquire the accessory. This allows Apple to keep track of which users have already been given free bumpers to.
For those wondering why a bumper is important, this is because the iPhone 4’s antenna is faulty. A small portion of the antenna is exposed in the lower edge on the side of the handset. This portion of the iPhone 4, when touched, will cause the device to lose signal. In the middle of a conversation, touching this part accidentally will most likely lead to a dropped call.
While Apple is not willing to make a massive recall to fix all iPhone 4, they have announced that they will be giving out free iPhone 4 bumpers that would keep the antenna from being exposed.
Tags: 3-mobile, antenna, Apple, Apple-iPhone, Apple-iPhone-4, apps
YouTube is playing both sides of the fence now. Despite the fact that Google technically owns the media sharing website, they cannot simply ignore the 1.7 million iPhone users who may or may not be part of the YouTube network (and it is likely that most of them are YouTube users).
Originally, not having HTML5 on YouTube meant that iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad uses would have to use apps to view links that led to videos that were hosted on the video sharing website. Now, there is no need for that. According to the latest update from YouTube, the mobile version of their website will now be using HTML5 as a new standard.
In many ways, this is already predictable. After all, HTML5 really is a great new format for replacing Flash. The only issue is that many existing websites were made, designed and executed using Flash, there is also plenty of web content, such as ads and games that use the Flash format. This has made the shift from Flash to HTML5 a slow one –one that Apple is not happy with.
Several months ago, when Apple released the SDK for the iOS 4, it came with a developer’s agreement that basically ruled out the use of Adobe’s Flash Professional as a creation and compiling tool for iPhone apps. This made it harder for developers to create apps for Apple, and at the same time, it made the Flash developers want to work with Google instead.
Anyway, despite the tension and competition between Apple and Google, the fact that the iPhone 4 sold so much –despite not having Flash support is significant. In some ways, it shows that people simply do not care about what formats are supported or not –and in this regard, whatever format works with Apple’s new device is going to be the new standard.
Tags: Adobe-Flash, Apple, Apple-iPad, Apple-iPhone, Apple-iPhone-4, apps, Google, HTML5, YouTube
Apple has officially changed the name of the iPhone operating system from iPhone OS to simply, the iOS. There is no doubt that the new OS’s features and specs are worth playing around with, but we found a few nifty tricks that most users would certainly want to try out.
First off, locking the screen’s auto-rotation feature; now this feature may not seem like much of a big deal, but if you try viewing an image from a sideways perspective, you will get the point. Thanks to the ever-convenient auto-rotate feature, the screen will automatically adjust to whatever orientation you choose. This happens whether a user likes it or not –by locking the screen, you will be able to read and view iPhone content without the screen flickering left and right because you suddenly shifted positions.
Another nice new control feature is the change in the UI for the camera. Users can now have a small focus box that will allow you to have a sense of design composition in your images (or simply for making sure that some details do not get blurred out). Users simply need to tap on the screen and select a location for the camera to focus.
For people who have plenty of apps and features on their iPhone, the update all is a nice touch –unless you have hundreds of apps to update. For some, this new feature is a major time saver, but others might want to manually update on a per-app basis. In this case, make the most out of the multitasking and run multiple update instances.
Sadly, even for iPhone 4s that have been released locally, the setting for most seems to have been defaulted to US English. While there is nothing really wrong about this, it is rather annoying to get corrected when using the Queen’s English. In this case, be sure to change the global settings to reflect local needs.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iOS, Apple-iPhone, Apple-iPhone-4, Apple-iPhone-OS, Apple-iPhone-OS-4, apps
As if the world really needs more reason to be excited for the iPhone. Apple’s brand is so famous and marketable that they have managed to sell an otherwise tech-spec impressive handset based mostly on the brand name alone –and if anyone is willing to argue that a large percentage of the 1.7 million people who bought the handset actually care about the specs, then Google’s Android should have been selling almost just as good.
In any case, it seems that the geniuses behind the Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game are now going to be teamed up with folks from the most iconic animation studio in the world, Disney.
That’s right folks, the Disney has “acquired” Tapulous, the company that is probably the single most successful app developer for the Apple iTunes store –and by successful, we mean a developer with paid apps that get downloaded a lot. Thanks to the easy to learn game, intuitive controls and vast music library of the Tap Tap series, it is not a surprise that so many people play their games.
And now, Disney will be jumping into the mix. At this point, nobody knows what the folks at Disney Interactive Media are planning by getting into the iPhone app market –but it is one gaming platform they cannot afford to ignore. While it is hard to determine if Steve Job’s majority shareholdings in Disney have been influential in this move, it is an undeniably smart move for Disney to choose Tapulous.
According to recent reports, Tapulous was last working on a social networking game –if Disney joins in the development of this, they will not only be able to provide Tapulous with the resources, but also present a much larger market demographic. And Tap’s founders know this. In an interview, Tapulous co-founder Bart Decrem stated that he is excited to be working with Disney.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPhone, apps, Disney, games, Google-Android, Steve-Jobs
The smart phone industry already knew early on that the Android OS will be getting an update which brings with it the Adobe Flash Player. But now, it appears that the Google OS is not the only platform that will be getting this new feature. It seems that a large range of other platforms will also be getting Flash Players as well.
The only OS that we are certain will not be getting any support from Adobe is the Apple iPhone OS, so all those new Apple iPhone 4s might end up missing a vital feature.
It all started with the release of the Apple iPhone OS4 SDK. With the release of the developer kit, there was also a license agreement which forbade the use of third party software in the development of Apple iPhone apps. During this time, it was common practice for many developers to create Flash apps and use an iPhone compiler to port the game over to the Apple platform. Adobe’s new Flash Professional CS5 featured a Flash to iPhone compiler as its biggest feature. When the Apple license agreement basically cut off Adobe, hostilities between the two companies took a very open and public form.
Before the dust settled, Adobe has found itself declaring that it would no longer support Apple and that Google has teamed up with the developer. This immediately led to an announcement from Google about the new Android supporting Flash –a promise that is seeing realization just now. At the same time, Google and Adobe also announced that they would be supporting the HTML5 format as well –leaving Apple being the only OS in town not supporting Flash.
This reality will sink in even more as the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 OS is confirmed to be getting a Flash update after it is released and that many other smart phones will also be getting the update as well. Phones that make use of the Palm WebOS, BlackBerry OS, Symbian, MeeGo and LiMo are among those confirmed that will be getting a Flash Player.
Tags: Adobe-Flash, Apple, Apple-iOS-4, Apple-iPhone-4, apps, Blackberry-OS, Google, Google-Android, Palm, smartphones, Symbian, WebOS
There were plenty of impressive games that were released for the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the Super Famicom in Japan). While most of these impressive titles are stored in cartridge format to be played, there are various PC accessories that would allow owners to store backup copies of the ROMs to their computer.
This little feature is taken full use of by the Android operating system. With many apps that allowed the smart phone to run emulations of old game consoles; these ROM backups can be played once again –providing the Android with a large library of impressive game titles.
Lucasart’s Metal Warriors is one such title. While the game itself was not so well known, the small circle of fans that have been able to try out the game will attest to its well made storyline, impressive gameplay and high replay value. Sadly, since the Google Android SNES emulation’s two player options are limited, it is hard to make full use of the game’s extended feature of letting to players duke it out.
The story mode however, remains fully intact. The game places players in control of a mech pilot, able to run up to six types of robot battle machines that are found in the game. While the pilot itself is a fragile little human armed with only a pistol, he can be made to pilot any empty mech found in the game –and this is where Metal Warriors truly shines.
Each of the 6 machines has their own unique forms, strengths, capabilities and limitations. Being able to pilot each properly takes practice and effort –but is ultimately very rewarding. The graphics are also very impressive. The sprites are well detailed and the mechs take battle damage in the form of dents, paint damage and eventually, loss of parts before it is fully destroyed.
Tags: apps, emulation, games, gogle, Google-Android, SNES
When Microsoft announced the Windows Phone 7 operating system at the Mobile World Congress last February, many of us in the industry were impressed with the way they have changed and evolved the older Windows Mobile OS.
Windows Phone 7 was dynamic, full of animations, new features, social networking integration, plenty of media support, a high potential for games, and stylish new look that simply changed the way we perceived operating systems and user interfaces. While there will never be a perfect OS, WP7 at least has the looks of one.
Now, recent news has once again re-confirmed previous announcement that the Windows Phone 7 will be getting support for Flash. This was a feature that was not counted in the many demonstrations of the OS –not when they showed off the multi-platform app compatibility, the 3D games, Silverlight support, the MSN new player and other features. But it is certainly as important as any of these.
Flash is a feature that will forever be a thorn on Apple’s side. As the Cupertino based company’s operating systems are unable to provide enough stability for Flash, it became Steve Jobs’ personal quest to rid the internet of Flash content. However, his recent move to stamp out Flash (by pushing Adobe aside) simply made the Flash developer to look for support from other companies. While Google made a very public show of support for Adobe, it appears that Microsoft was also quietly supporting the Flash developer too.
This does not change HTML5, or the eventual demise of Flash, but the fact that both the Android and Windows Phone 7 will support to older web format is a testament to the fact that Flash still has years of use ahead of it.
According to Microsoft, WP7 Flash support will not be included in the release version of the operating system. But a later update (expected to be around 2011) will be bringing both Flash and AIR to the new OS.
Tags: Adobe-Flash, Apple, apps, Google, Google-Android, Microsoft, windows-mobile-7, Windows-Phone-7
Missing out on attending the matches at South Africa is one thing, but actually being left out of the news loop is another issue. When you know that you will not be able to have access to the telly or the computer during the World Cup matches, then your best bet to get live news is through your mobile phones.
Android smart phone users will be happy to know that there is a wide range of World Cup related apps available at the Android market. While not all apps are worth downloading, there are some that could prove to be very invaluable for any true football fan.
Our first recommendation is none other than the World DroidCup app. This is an instant results app that provides users with all the statistics, tables, match schedules, group tables and more. It looks great on the phone and the interface is easy to figure out. While it lacks all the extra details, it does give you the cold hard facts instantly –the perfect reference tool for busy fans.
If you can spare the time to actually read a short article about match highlights, then you will love the EvriThing World Cup app which provides you with a live news feed detailing all the match highlights and of course, big announcements. The lack of images means that the apps load and run faster than others –and that is a very important time and bandwidth saver.
Topping off our list of free Android apps is the BBC Sport News App. Most sports fans would already have this app installed on their handset, and if you have not had the chance to do so, do it. The BBC offers reliable, accurate and updated news about all the big matches happening at the World Cup as well as other major sports events.
Tags: apps, Google-Android, World-Cup, World-Cup-2010
If you are looking for a great mobile phone that you can actually brag about you need to get the Samsung Wave mobile phone. This phone has many features that other phones do not offer and you can get it for a great price with one of the many Samsung Wave deals on the market. Here are just a few of the features that make the Samsung Wave mobile phone a thing to have over the summer.
The first thing that we have to mention is that is a sleek stylish model that offers you a bright touchscreen that has some of the clearest resolution that you could ever see on mobile phone. The technology used in the screen itself will not be found in any other phone for at least a year. This puts the Samsung Wave mobile phone ahead of the rest of the mobile phone companies in Great Britain.
Some of the other features that you can get on this phone are the different applications that you can download directly to your phone. There are many applications that you can purchase just by going to a certain web site that is supported by the Samsung Wave mobile phone. Many of these applications are cheap or can be added on to your plan. Either way, you will still be able to get the applications you want to wreck the downloaded to your phone when you want them to.
Another thing that the Samsung Wave mobile phone offers is some of the best pictures and the quality of resolution that you can record video in. This phone offers you the ability to record video in the high definition. You also have a choice to choose from when you get this mobile phone such as the different widgets, contacts, and web pages that you can access right from your phone.
Tags: apps, Samsung, Samsung-Wave, Samsung-Wave-s8500, smartphones
Fans of the Android smart phone have been enjoying the many apps and extra features that are available for the Android handset. Here are three choice Android apps that users will certainly appreciate on the Android smart phone.
First up the list is the Task Manager. There is a significant chance that your smart phone is being bogged down by apps and functions that you do not use or need –causing the device to act erratically or even slow down when you need to do something quick. And while computers will easily let you shut down any unneeded functions, the feature is not commonly found in smart phones, which means that precious resources could be gobbled up by hiding apps.
The Task Manager is an Android app dedicated to fishing out those hidden apps running in the background so that you can shut them down. The only drawback is that users need to manually do the process for each boot up.
Train Times UK is one of our favorite apps as it keeps users on time all the time. Missing a train is a serious problem when you are pressed for time and with this app, you can stay on top of the schedule by actually knowing when each train will making specific stops. Since the app connects to the live online timetables for UK train operators, most of the data is accurate –still, for very important matters, it still pays off to give the operators a quick call to confirm a schedule.
Last on our list of Android Apps is the Google Maps Navigation app. Chances are, you might have already gotten this app right after Google announced that they are delivering free voice guided navigation. Compatible for version 1.6 Donut and above, this impressive app combines the vast data stored in Google maps with Street View and GPS data.
Tags: apps, Google, Google-Android, smartphones
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