We don't usually highlight off-the-wall apps, but we just have to
bring Frog Guitar to your attention. This bizarre,
hilarious, and entertaining musical app lets you play a virtual guitar
that uses frogs instead of strings - you can even stretch them to
adjust pitch. I don't know if you'll find it worth 99¢, but you'll
probably get a kick out of the YouTube video.
Mac notebook and other portable computing is covered
in The 'Book Review, and general Mac
news is in Mac News Review.
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News, Reviews, & Opinion
Presentation
Apps & Services
iPod and iPhone Deals
These price trackers are updated regularly.
News, Reviews, & Opinion
New Yorker Cover Painted with an
iPhone
The New Yorker
Blog says:
"Jorge Colombo drew this week's cover using Brushes, an application for the iPhone, while standing
for an hour outside Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Times Square....
"There's a companion application, Brushes Viewer, that makes a video
recapitulating each step of how Colombo composed the picture...."
Link:
Cover Story: Finger Painting
The iPhone New Yorker Cover
BusinessWeek's
Arik Hesseldahl says:
"To the list of cool things you can do with an iPhone, you can now
add 'illustrate the cover of a magazine.'
"The artist Jorge Colombo used the iPhone app Brushes to create the illustration that graces the cover
of this week's New Yorker. Colombo will continue to offer
drawings made on his iPhone that will be featured on the magazine's Web
site."
Link:
The iPhone New Yorker Cover
Faster Next Gen CPU Expected in New iPhone
Electronista
reports:
"The next revision of the iPhone should be characterized by a
dramatic increase in processing power, an alleged scoop by
veteran technology writer John Gruber says. He refers to 'informed'
sources who say the iPhone will jump from its existing 412 MHz clock
speed to 600 MHz...."
Gruber expects "roughly double" the performance due to the new CPU
and perhaps twice as much RAM.
Link:
New iPhone Said Getting 'Next-gen' CPU
iPhone Price Cut to $99 Coming?
The Street's
Scott Moritz suggests that Apple may cut the price of the 8 GB
iPhone to $99, according to a growing consensus among analysts.
Link:
iPhone Price Cut to $99? - Rumor
AT&T Lobbies for Palm Prē
The Register's
Austin Modine reports that AT&T chief Randall Stephenson is warning
that US wireless networks aren't ready for a deluge of 3G traffic,
while noting he'd like his company to start selling the 3G Palm
Prē once Sprint's exclusive contract runs out.
Link:
AT&T, Not Ready for 3G, Lobbies for 3G Palm Prē
Top 10 Must-Have Free iPhone Apps
Even Primakos says:
"I love my iPhone 3G. It's fun, it's useful, and it continually
amazes me that Apple was able to enter a market it previously had zero
role in and instantly cause the rest of the industry to start playing
catch-up. Anyone who who has one will tell you that the absolute best
part about it is the variety of applications, or 'apps', that are
available for it, both free and paid. Having used it for several months
now, I've compiled a top ten list of free iPhone Apps that every single
user should have. I attempted to organize them in order, but they're
all great in their own regard...."
Link:
Top Ten Must-Have Free iPhone Apps
10 Smartest and 10 Stupidest iPhone Apps
The Register's
Rik Myslewski says:
"The soon-to-be-released iPhone 3.0 software will offer a slew of
new capabilities to iPhone developers. With that sea change in mind, we
thought now would be a good time to take a look at the highs and lows
of the current crop of apps for the iPhone and iPod touch.
"Not merely the best and worst, but rather two Reg-ratified Top Ten
lists: the 10 smartest and 10 stupidest apps that the iTunes App Store
has to offer."
Link:
iPhone Apps - The 10 Smartest and the 10 Stupidest
Columbia Professor Warns of EMF Health Hazards
CTV.ca News
Staff reports that a Columbia University professor of Physiology and
Cellular Biophysics is sounding a warning to the public about negative
health effects of man-made electromagnetic fields, such as the ones
that emit from cellphones and power lines.
Dr. Martin Blank, who delivered an address in Toronto in Wednesday
on behalf of the BioInitiative Working Group, is cited as stating:
"When you get an electromagnetic field that's coming out of a power
line, or it's coming out of a cellphone antenna or a cellphone tower,
it's going to do things to the molecules in our body," and that may
include nasties like brain tumours, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and
breast cancer. Dr. Blank is quoted saying that EMF safety research has
been too narrowly focused on thermal effects and not enough on EMF
induced biochemical changes, which he says occur long before there are
measurable temperature changes.
Link:
Professor Warns of Cellphone Health Hazards
Presentation
New Pioneer A/V Receivers Integrate with iPhone,
iPod
PR: Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. has announced that it is
now shipping A/V Receivers that seamlessly integrate Apple's
revolutionary iPhone and iPod into a customer's home theater. Pioneer's
VSX-819AH,
VSX-919AH and
VSX-1019AH A/V Receivers and also feature proprietary technologies
designed to restore compressed audio data and recreate the dynamic
listening experiences intended by the original musician.
"With our new line of A/V Receivers that seamlessly
integrate with Apple's iPhone and iPod, we now offer a complete
solution for improved portable audio playback in the home theater
realm," said David Bales, marketing manager of audio products for the
home entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "With
Pioneer's rich heritage in A/V receiver design and innovation, we are
thrilled to give our customers the ability to make iPhone and iPod part
of their home theater system."
Pioneer A/V Receivers are part of the "Works with iPhone" and "Made
for iPod" program and feature a seamless user experience for iPhone and
iPod owners. The new line of receivers allow consumers to simply plug
their iPhone or iPod to the A/V Receiver and utilize a full-color
graphic user interface (GUI) complete with album art, utilize a central
remote control option to easily navigate through playlists. The A/V
Receivers will intuitively turn on the Auto Music-Mute function when a
call is received on an iPhone, allowing home audiences to maintain an
uninterrupted entertainment experience.
By utilizing two proprietary digital audio enhancement functions -
Advanced Sound Retriever (ASR) and Auto Level Control (ALC) - the
Pioneer A/V Receivers deliver a high quality listening experience
specially designed for portable audio device home integration.
Pioneer's ASR was designed for use with highly-compressed music files
to ensure a more dynamic audio experience when played through home
audio speakers. Meanwhile, Pioneer's ALC technology equalizes the
fluctuating volume levels that can occur with digital audio tracks and
other input sources resulting in a richer user experience that
alleviates the need to manually adjust the volume.
Pioneer's A/V Receivers are available now at Best Buy and other national and regional retailers
nationwide for suggested retail prices that range from $299 - $499.
Pioneer's Home Entertainment and Business Solutions Group develops
high definition home theater equipment for discerning entertainment
enthusiasts. Its Blu-ray Disc players, A/V receivers and loudspeakers
bring a new level of emotion to the HD experience. The company brands
include Pioneer and Elite®. When purchased from an authorized
retailer, consumers receive a limited warranty for one year with
Pioneer products and two years with Pioneer Elite products.
These receivers can be ordered from Amazon.com, Best Buy, and other
sources.
- VSX-819AH, currently $286.53 with free Super Saver shipping at
Amazon.com,
$299.99 plus shipping from
Best Buy
- VSX-919AH, currently $399.99 with free shipping at Amazon.com,
not yet listed on the Best Buy website
- VSX-1019AH, currently $449 + shipping or $472.58 with free Super
Saver shipping at Amazon.com,
$509.99 plus shipping from
Best Buy
Apps & Services
Brushes Viewer (Free Viewer for
App Used to Create the New Yorker Cover)
PR: Brushes Viewer is a free application for Mac OS X that
allows you to replay your Brushes paintings stroke for stroke, export
them at very high resolutions (up to 1920 x 2880), and even export them
as QuickTime movies. Download it to take full advantage of Brushes.
Jorge Colombo drew this week's The New Yorker
Magazine's cover using Brushes for the iPhone, while standing for
an hour outside Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Times Square
Advanced Color Picker
Select
virtually any color (with transparency) using the familiar
hue/saturation color wheel. Quickly choose black or white via the
preset swatches. Fill the entire painting with any color (use a
semitransparent color to tint your painting).
Realistic Brushes
Flick between three different brushes ranging in style from smooth
to bristly. Choose any brush size from 1 to 64 pixels in diameter.
Balanced Painting Tools
Brushes records your brush strokes allowing you to replay them at
high resolutions on a Mac. Brushes also provides a generous undo stack,
allowing you to undo (and redo) a large number of brush strokes. Don't
worry about making a mistake!
Extreme Zooming
Zoom in and out by pinching. Brushes allows you to zoom from 70% to
800%. Drag with two fingers to pan when zoomed in.
Eyedropper Tool
Pick up colors from the painting using the eyedropper. The
eyedropper is accessible from the toolbar or by tapping and holding on
the painting.
Gallery
View
Browse your paintings in the Gallery. Tap a thumbnail to open a
painting, or hit the add button to create a new one. You can also
import a photo from your photo albums.
Viewing Mode
When you're not editing a painting, you can flick between them, run
a slideshow, duplicate a painting, add a painting to your photos, or
delete a painting.
Built-in Web Server
Download your paintings directly from your iPhone or iPod touch
using Brushes' built-in web server.
System Requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or higher
- Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) recommended
- Link: Brushes Viewer for
Mac OS X
- Link: Brushes App (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
BabyPhone Deluxe Turns iPhone into a Baby
Monitor
PR: In the origin this application was built for the iPhone
and sold since mid of March 2009 over the iTunes App Store from Apple
Inc.
Roeland Hofkens, the founder of Bluefields, and his wife had the
idea of building a baby monitor application for the iPhone, while
traveling with their 1.5 year old daughter. Both baby monitoring
devices they had with them did not work. The walkie-talkie device did
not reach the distance it promised, and the DECT phone with a baby
monitor function did not to connect to the phone system of the hotel.
BabyPhone Deluxe can be used worldwide wherever there is a mobile
network connection and regardless the distance.
BabyPhone Deluxe works like a standard baby monitor - just switch on
the application and place your iPhone a distance of 2 to 3 meters to
your sleeping baby. The mobile will call the configurable phone number
when a sound exceeds an adjustable level. So it is possible to hear
everything that is going on in the child's room.
A lot of value is put on an intuitive user interface and an accurate
operability. For example, it still works properly if there is a call,
SMS, or calendar event coming in. The iPhone will fall into a battery
saving mode after 3 minutes, so that a new battery lasts at least for
10 hours. It is possible to configure a call delay. This means the
application will call the configured phone number only if the sound
level exceeds the threshold for 1, 2, 3, or 4 seconds. This prevents
'false positives': you won't be called when the baby coughs or turns
around, only when it really needs you.
On top there is a BabyRecorder that records the sounds of your baby
during the night, switching on and off automatically. These recordings
can be used for the family records or even to show the doctor how hard
and often the baby coughed in the night.
New features on the Android platform will be:
- Two-Way-Communication: possibility also to talk to the baby over
the loudspeaker of the T-Mobile G1. So the parents can calm the child
until they are back.
- Call-In-Function: starting the call from the configured phone
number and listen actively into the baby's room.
- Blocking of incoming calls: as the iPhone has to be put on silent,
so that the child does not get awake if there is a incoming call, these
calls will be automatically blocked.
BabyPhone Deluxe is available on the iTunes App Store from Apple
Inc. for $4.99.
Link: BabyPhone Deluxe
(available through the
iPhone App Store)
Short Hand: Faster Typing on Your iPhone
PR: LizzardWerks has released "short hand" 1.0, an iPhone app
that helps write quicker emails, tweets, notes, and more using typing
shortcuts. Tap a few letters to automatically insert a whole phrase -
or even multiple paragraphs. It makes writing commonly used phrases
much faster and easier on the iPhone's small keyboard. Users can create
their own typing shortcuts, or modify or delete the built-in ones.
Great for BlackBerry switchers, because it's similar to the
BlackBerry's AutoType feature.
With the typing shortcuts in "short hand", a new iPhone and iPod
touch app released today by LizzardWerks, users can write whole
sentences or paragraphs by tapping just a few letters. For example,
typing "wn" could automatically insert "hey, what are you up to
tonight?" Or typing "adr" could insert a person's entire 3-line mailing
address. The options are limitless, and users can rapidly combine their
customized shortcuts to make complete messages. Users can add, edit,
and delete an unlimited number of custom typing shortcuts.
Quickly type up a message, then send it to Mail, Twitterrific,
Tweetie, Appigo Notebook, or Appigo Todo. Once Apple ships the new
iPhone OS 3.0 this summer, short hand users will be able to write text
quickly and send it to any application through automatic copy
and paste.
Great for people who miss AutoType on the BlackBerry, AutoText in
Microsoft Word, or typing macros in many programs. Short hand can also
save drafts to finish later, and it automatically saves sent messages.
You can use sent messages as templates for sending new, similar
messages - another time saver.
Key features:
- Create, modify, or delete an unlimited number of shortcuts
- Use shortcuts to insert frequently used words, phrases, or even
multiple paragraphs
- Shortcuts can insert multiple lines, including line breaks
- Type using the vertical, portrait keyboard or the horizontal,
landscape keyboard, which has larger keys that make typing easier and
faster
System Requirements: iPhone or iPod Touch 2.1 or later
short hand 1.0 for iPhone is 99¢ and available exclusively
through Apple's App Store.
Link: Short
Hand (available through the
iPhone App Store)
Free OS X 10.5 and iPhone Apps for SendPhotos
Photo Sharing Service
PR: Avanquest Software has released as a free iPhone
application its Avanquest SendPhotos photo sharing service. The service
leverages the convergence of mobile phone, desktop and Web 2.0
technologies to enable friends and family to instantly and securely
share and exchange favorite photos and digital images free over the Web
from their computer or mobile device virtually anytime or anywhere.
The iPhone application's built-in photo editor allows color and
contrast adjustments to images and provides the ability to annotate,
crop, and "smudge" out parts of a photo. Other features include support
for WiFi as well as a cellular connectivity, allowing mobile
subscribers to avoid costly data charges. It is easy to set up an
account within the iPhone application so that users can begin sharing
photos immediately.
Further expanding the robust community of users for the interactive
photo sharing service, the company also unveiled today the SendPhotos
iPhoto Plugin for the Mac Photo Gallery application, which gives users
of the popular iLife '09 iPhoto Macintosh application a simple one-step
method for publishing of photos to the SendPhotos service.
The free Macintosh application can be downloaded at SendPhotos.com.
iPhone users can access the mobile application either via iTunes or the
iPhone App Store.
"Giving Macintosh and iPhone users access to our powerful
application with its mobile and desktop client and many unique sharing
features brings us closer to our goal of making universal photo sharing
a reality for SendPhotos users," said David Wright, president,
Avanquest Product Design Group. "The iPhone now is one of more than 150
popular mobile devices from leading manufacturers for which we enable
instantaneous uploading of photos with 'set it and forget it'
simplicity."
SendPhotos users enjoy 1 GB of free online storage space for
archiving approximately 2,000 photos online (based on average photo
size of 0.5 MB). Users also have the ability to invite friends and
family to 'share-back' their images, providing the opportunity to
create a comprehensive photo document of a social event, such as a
wedding or birthday party. The SendPhotos account owner simply provides
permission to the 'guest' and they upload images to complement a photo
album.
The Avanquest SendPhotos Web site provides a personal and private
online cache for uploading, archiving, synchronization and sharing of
digital images. The SendPhotos.com site allows access only to
user-authorized family, friends and associates without third-party
publicity or search engine pickup and dissemination across the
Internet. A simple drag-and-drop, animated and extremely fluid
interface facilitates the easy transfer of stored photos to a variety
of external photo sharing and social networking sites, including
Picasa, MySpace and many others.
Currently available in Beta, Avanquest SendPhotos is available in
English, French, Spanish, Italian and German editions and provides the
ability to embed a photo 'album' created in SendPhotos to a website or
blog by using Avanquest PhotoFlow feature. See a PhotoFlow example by
clicking here.
System Requirements: Avanquest's SendPhotos iPhoto Plugin
application requires iLife '09 (compatible with iLife '08), OS X 10.5
or later.
Link: SendPhotos
for Mac and PC (mobile version available through the
iPhone App Store)
FotoMagico Remote for iPhone/iPod touch
PR: Boinx Software announces the availability of FotoMagico
Remote to control a live FotoMagico 3 slideshow with iPhone or iPod
touch. To help presenters with their live narration, FotoMagico Remote
also includes a teleprompter that displays a thumbnail and the speaker
notes for the currently displayed slide. FotoMagico Remote can be
purchased exclusively at the iTunes App Store for $19.95.
"Using the FotoMagico Remote on stage gives you unprecedented
control and makes you look cool," says Oliver Breidenbach, CEO of Boinx
Software. "Adding this to your iPhone or iPhone touch comes much
cheaper than buying one of the less stylish and less useful hardware
remote control devices on the market."
Presenting The Professional Way
A full screen presentation with FotoMagico 3 can now be remotely
controlled with the "FotoMagico Remote" application on iPhone or iPod
touch. FotoMagico Remote provides playback remote control and a
teleprompter right in your palm. You can read your notes and get a
visual feedback of the duration of the current slide on the screen,
giving your whole live presentation a highly professional touch.
With FotoMagico Remote you are free to walk around the stage in
front of your audience while narrating your slideshow. FotoMagico
Remote on your iPhone or iPod touch is the perfect addition to
FotoMagico 3 Pro!
Secure Remote Control:
Remote controlling a live presentation with your iPhone or iPod
touch can be protected with a four digit PIN code. Setting the PIN code
makes sure nobody else can interfere with the presentation.
System Requirements:
FotoMagico Remote runs on any iPhone an iPod touch with iPhone OS
2.2.1 or later. FotoMagico Remote requires FotoMagico 3.0 (or later)
running Mac OS Leopard (or later) and an available local WiFi network
for the communication between the Mac and the iPhone or iPod touch.
FotoMagico Remote for iPhone and iPod touch is available exclusively
at the iTunes App Store for $19.95.
Link: FotoMagico Remote (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
Celebrity for iPhone: Want to Be a Tabloid
Star?
PR: Have you ever wanted to be a tabloid star?
With Celebrity, Visuamobile's new iPhone app, you can put your own
picture on fake magazine covers.
Just take a picture of yourself or your friends, choose a magazine
cover, and make it to the front page.
Celebrity main features :
- 20 realistic covers with various themes
- Covers are visible while taking the picture
- Built-in email sharing
- Image adjustments : crop, scale, flip
- Realistic vintage effect on covers
- CoverFlow like navigation
- Use of the personal photo library
The Celebrity app is released in two versions :
- Lite version: free, includes 4 covers
- Premium version: includes 20 covers ($2.99)
Premium version on sale at 99¢ for 5 days
Link: Celebrity for
iPhone (available through the
iPhone App Store)
Deep Green and Deep Green Lite Chess for iPhone
and iPod touch
PR: UK
based Cocoa Stuff announces Deep Green 1.1, an update to their wildly
popular chess game for iPhone and iPod touch. Developed from the ground
up to leverage the iPhone's unique capabilities and interface, Deep
Green continues to combine great complexity and functionality into a
simple, yet compelling and intuitive user interface. Version 1.1 sports
new notifications at check, checkmate and stalemate, as well as new
callouts, sound, vibration, and animations and more.
Cocoa Stuff announces Deep Green 1.1, an update to their wildly
popular chess game for iPhone and iPod touch. Specifically developed
from the ground up to leverage the iPhone's unique capabilities and
interface, Deep Green continues to combine great complexity and
functionality into a simple, yet compelling and intuitive user
interface.
Perfect for casual game play, Deep Green offers incredible looks,
polish and ease of use, featuring realistic sounds that make the gaming
experience fun and compelling. It includes built-in help, with sections
for new features, reference, and frequently asked questions. There is
also a shortcut for sending email to support for learning more about
chess rules. These features, except for built-in help and support, can
be turned on and off in the new Application Settings.
With Deep Green, opponents can move pieces either by drag-and-drop
or by tapping a piece, then tapping the square they wish to move it to.
The tapped piece will jiggle, dutifully awaiting for the user to tap
the destination square. The game supports auto-rotation, ensuring the
user always plays from the bottom and up, and the board is rotated
correctly for the in-turn player when competing on the device with a
friend.
Feature Highlights:
- Play against Engine or Human, or Engine versus Engine
- Adjustable Engine strength
- Concentration setting allowing the Engine to play more like a
Human
- Manual board setup
- Game playback - First/previous/next/last position, auto-playback,
drag slider
- Replay of last move
- Move suggestion animated on board
- Take back - Undo, all the way back to start
- Free choice between tap/tap and drag/drop moving (no need to set
preference)
- Display of Captured Pieces
- Smooth animations everywhere
- Game and state saved between program sessions
- Built-in Help
- Rich, analog-type sounds, optional
- Callout notification for Check, Stalemate, and Checkmate
- Vibration on Check, Stalemate and Checkmate, optional
- Board Coordinates
- Board Auto-Rotation
With Version 1.1, Deep Green Lite makes its first appearance. Deep
Green Lite is a free version with all the functionality of its big
brother, with exception to game saving. Each time Deep Green Lite is
launched it starts over with a new game. Deep Green 1.1 sports new
notifications at check, checkmate and stalemate, as well as new
callouts, sound, vibration, and animations.
Deep Green was first released on the Newton platform in 1998, and
was a huge success. Only ten days after it was released, Apple
discontinued the Newton project. "The overall goal of Deep Green is to
keep it simple, beautiful, and elegant" said Joachim Bondo, president
and founder of Cocoa Stuff. "Deep Green 1.1 offers a slew of new
features, at the cost of only one extra button added to a secondary
view. This is a product of very high quality with a long and exciting
roadmap ahead."
System Requirements:
- iPhone or iPod touch 2.1 or later
- 4.3 MB
Sound is only available on first generation iPod touch when using
headset or external speakers. The device must be unmuted. Vibration
must be enabled on the iPhone for the currently active Silent/Ring
state. Vibration is not available on iPod touch.
Deep Green 1.1 for iPhone is $7.99 and available exclusively through
Apple's App Store. All future upgrades are free to existing customers.
Deep Green Lite 1.1 debuts and is free.
Link: Deep Green (available
through the
iPhone App Store)
ToneTune Virtual Tuning Fork
PR: Stanton Studio, LLC has announced the release of ToneTune
1.0, available on the iPhone App Store. ToneTune is a multiple tuning
fork that helps you tune the strings on your stringed instrument to the
correct pitch by ear without searching through hard-to-find books or
the web. TuneTone has many more tunings for instruments than the
competition, and a more intuitive interface.
Simply select your instrument and tuning, and tap the graphic to get
the right pitch for each string. It can even play all the notes in
sequence, as many times as you like.
There is a short how-to video there, as well as a feature list,
screen shots and an instrument list. There is a Spanish version of
ToneTune and the web site too.
Version 1.1 is currently In Review, as is a new free version, called
ToneTuneLT (with a reduced number of tunings and note range).
Link: ToneTune
(available through the
iPhone App Store)
Frog Guitar: Make Beautiful Music on
Your iPhone
PR: A new company, Smort Inc. has released its first
application for the iPhone, Frog Guitar.
Getting a little tired of all of those tree-hugging musical apps for
the iPhone like Pocket Guitar and Ocarina. Plus, who isn't tired of
Tap-Tap-Tapping? Come on! It was time for someone to step up and create
something truly awesome - so Smort Inc. built a guitar out of
Frogs.
It's very simple to use:
- pluck, strike, or strum the frogs
- stretch the frogs with the rope and pegs to change pitch
- ignore the flies - they are just for decorations - and be careful
how you treat those frogs or things might get messy
You can actually play chords and stuff with multitouch although the
fingerings are inverted from a standard bass guitar. My homemade video
shows you a basic song.
Check out Frog Guitar on YouTube.
Frog Guitar is available now in the App Store for 99¢.
Link: Frog
Guitar (available through the
iPhone App Store)
