Category: Apps (Page 28 of 34)

      id Software to Release a New iPhone Game Every 2-3 Months

      June 25, 2009 /

      id on the iPhone.The latest in iPhone news (and I know there’s been a lot of it this month) comes from id Software. You may know them as the creators of games like Doom and Wolfenstein and the upcoming Rage. iPhone users will be getting introduced to, or reacquainted with, id over the next year.

      id co-founder John Carmack told Joystiq today that he is “passionate about the benefits of the iPhone,” and that his company has a lot of fun porting their titles. He also says it doesn’t require a lot of focus, at least for an established IP like Doom. But there is more to come from Carmack and company, who recently announced their buyout by ZeniMax, parent company to Bethesda.

      “I’ve got a slate of iPhone titles, I expect to have an iPhone release every two or three months for the next year,” said Carmack. He made it clear that the benefit isn’t necessarily the money, but rather the level of commitment. When a game doesn’t cost millions of dollars to make and market, it’s a lot less pressure on the development team, which Carmack views as a good thing.

      I’m glad to see a major developer taking the iPhone into serious consideration. Titles like Myst have recently been ported as well, but how about some new IP? Personally, I’d love some.

      Apps, Gaming, iPhone

      AT&T Navigator Comes To The iPhone

      June 23, 2009 /

      AT&T Navigator.Being that TomTom showed off their turn by turn navigation system at WWDC, and being that AT&T has hardly mentioned their Navigator app in recent memory, it seems odd that AT&T would be the first to release a turn by turn navigation app.

      They were, though, in a free app download today. Don’t let free fool you. The app will add a $10 charge to your AT&T bill.

      The application was developed specifically for the iPhone 3GS but it will work with OS 3.0 on other iPhones. The app gives you turn-by-turn navigation, updates traffic information and will let you search by your location for the cheapest gas.

      AT&T may have made a smart play here, giving them the early adopters. I’ll be interested to see whether other turn-by-turns run for a similar monthly fee.

      Apple, Apps

      App Review: iShot Machine – Plenty Of Shots, Just a Few Bugs

      June 21, 2009 /

      The iShot Machine.Oasys Mobile, the developers behind the Uno-styled card game app “Oh No!” and Hooters Crazy Eights, just released a new application for the drinker in you: iShot Machine.

      Like many other shot/cocktail applications, iShot Machine aims to bring as many recipes as possible to your iPhone, making it easy to find that recipe you’ve drunkenly forgotten, all from within a sleek, slot-machine-like interface. Unfortunately, several of the iShot Machine’s features are plagued by bugs or hampered by an awkward search function. Despite its bugs, iShot Machine delivers a decent recipe count in a clean interface that allows you to store your favorites for quick access.

      The Good:
      First, iShot Machine has more than 3,000 recipes in the paid version, giving you access to a whole load of shots should you need them. That recipe count is just shots, mind you, so if you’re looking for a full cocktail app, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Granted, some of the shots are repeats, like the ‘Vulcan Mind Meld’ and the ‘Vulcan Mind-Probe,’ but with 3,000 options you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding something new.

      I’m also a fan of the ‘Favorites’ feature within the app. This makes it easy to find the shots you like best when you’re a bit intoxicated. It’s easy to remember the recipe for a grape bomb, but some of the more complicated drinks may elude you at the bar. Use the favorites feature to keep them close.

      Probably the best feature of iShot Machine is simply the quality of the recipes. I frequently spend my weekends bartending, and since the iPhone came out, I have at least one group of people a weekend using applications like this to find their next drink. Most of them are terrible – proportions are off, mixtures curdle like a Cement Mixer, or the product tastes like piss (when it wasn’t meant to). From the couple hundred shots I’ve looked through so far, most of them look legit, and I’m interested to try a few myself.

      Lastly, the controls are clean, with options to view shots in full screen or the smaller slot-machine screen below. It’s easy to favorite and rate shots, and wouldn’t be too much trouble to press the right item, even if you were a little drunk.

      The Bad:
      Continue reading »

      Apple, Apps, iPhone

      Tap Dat App – AT&T myWireless Mobile

      June 20, 2009 /

      at&t mywireless appAT&T’s free myWireless Mobile app has been out for quite a while now so if you live in the US and don’t have it already, you should. This app is a simple way to view just about everything related your wireless account as well as add features to your plan and monitor your usage. It’s quite convenient and in my opinion, should have been available since the iPhone was first released.

      So, from the home page, you can click Bill & Pay, Usage, or Features. Under Bill & Pay, you can view your last payment, payment date, current balance and due date, as well as bring up PDF copy of your current bill. Pretty handy to have that all in one place. AT&T also gives you the option to make a payment from this screen as well. It was nice of AT&T to give us the ability to pay the bill from this app because we all want to make sure AT&T gets their money on time.

      The Usage section is just what you’d expect. You are able to view Anytime, Night/Weekend, Mobile to Mobile, and Rollover Minutes used from the main screen. A nice addition for those of us on family plans is that you can also see all this information per individual. This would be convenient for parents as well as nosey husbands or wives. Also available in Usage is your data used which includes messaging as well as internet.

      Finally, the Features section is a way to upgrade your plan. AT&T wanted to make sure anyone, anywhere with and iPhone and this app can always add more features to their plan. Not paying enough for your iPhone plan yet? Well go ahead and add Roadside Assistance or maybe VoiceDial for Postpaid. In all seriousness though, if you are traveling abroad it is easy to use this app to add Expanded Internation Roaming or 20 MB Data Global Add-On without having to call customer service.

      So there you have it, AT&T myWireless Mobile app for the iPhone. It’s free and convenient so I recommend downloading it.

      Apple, Apps, iPhone

      Amazon eBooks: Killing a Kindle Near You

      June 16, 2009 /

      Jeff Bezos with a Kindle.A couple days back I made a post about what it would take for me to get a Kindle. I’m looking for cheaper access to ebooks on more devices, and according to Jeff Bezos, I should be getting one of those wishes in the near future.

      At a conference this week, Bezos laid out his plan for Amazon’s Kindle brand in full detail.

      The device team has the job of making the most remarkable purpose-built reading device in the world. We are going to give the device team competition. We will make Kindle books, at the same $9.99 price points, available on the iPhone, and other mobile devices and other computing devices.

      The good news, obviously, is that we’ll start to see ebooks on more portable and more versatile devices. The Kindle App for the iPhone is a great example of this, bringing the books to a device you’ll have with you regardless, not requiring you to lug something like a Kindle around.

      As for bad news I can’t help but wonder, what’s the lifespan of the Kindle? Bringing ebooks to devices that have more features than the Kindle means one thing – the Kindle is going to die. Purpose-built devices have been disappearing for decades as consumers look for that all-in-wonder device. Cellphones, portable gaming systems, digital cameras, and digital camcorders have now all been wrapped up into one device. We went from word processors to computers to laptops to laptops with built in fingerprint readers and webcams and anything else you can imagine. Purpose-built devices are a dying breed, at least for the consumer-level use, and particularly in the case of the Kindle.

      Unfortunately, Bezos’ $9.99 price point is still too rich for my blood. I rarely buy books at that price, and for the new releases I’ll splurge on, I want more than a restrictive file format to show for it. As Amazon’s eBooks get more popular and become available on more devices I know prices will go down, but I doubt Amazon will loosen restrictions.

      Apps, Mobile, News

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