Category: I-phone

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting FitRabbit. The developer describes FitRabbit as an app that makes fitness into a social game. Unlike its competitors, it leverages the social network. FitRabbit’s prizes reward consuming high quality foods and exercising consistently, rather than weight loss or calorie restriction. Unlike other apps, FitRabbit is useful without being distracting. It provides calories per serving information and a heartrate monitor.

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

FitRabbit

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Win prizes for healthy activities, like eating veggies and working out in the cardio zone!
• Share your healthy habits and prizes with your friends!
• Take photos of your meals to easily track them!
• Monitor your heartrate as you workout!
• Obtain calorie information from the USDA!

Requirements: iOS 3.1.3

Price: Free

Developer: Amber Dixon

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of FitRabbit? Have your say in our poll:

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Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.

I’ve been a car guy for a lot longer than I’ve ever owned anything with an Apple logo, and in that time I’ve used a lot of tips and tricks to get my cars functioning the way I want them to. Then the other day, I was thinking about all of the things that I do with my iPhone while I’m in the car (except for texting, of course), and how much it’s improved the driver’s experience.

So I decided to jot a few things down, and next thing I knew I had a pretty big list in front of me. Let’s get into them after the break.

Entertainment

Part of the reason I bought my iPhone was so that I could get rid of my iPod. It made sense, and that way I only had to carry one device with me to and from the car. But this was a few years ago, and even though lots of cars had iPod connectors, they didn’t all work with iPhones. Today, however, it’s almost standard for a car to come with at least an auxiliary jack, and possibly an iPod connector that does work on the iPhone. It’s amazing.

The Clarion FZ501 lets you stream Bluetooth audio from your iPhone.

But what’s even cooler is using Bluetooth to connect your iPhone to your car. I recently bought a new truck, and because I don’t really listen to AM/FM radio I decided to buy a Clarion head unit with Bluetooth that supports wireless music streaming. Now I can stream my music to the deck without even plugging it in. Better yet though, I can also stream the SiriusXM app without any extra equipment, or any other streaming option I want. That saved me cash on the head unit, and cash on the subscription fees to SiriusXM as well.

Navigation

If you want to get navigation in your car, you either need to cough up $2,000 or so at the dealership to get it installed from the factory, or spend from $500 and up on a custom stereo with navigation built in. With the iPhone, all I need is $35 for TomTom U.S.A. and I’m set. No more getting lost, plus I can take it out of the car if need be. Of course, you could buy a dedicated TomTom unit to plunk on your windshield, and for a while, I did that and was happy. Well, until it was stolen at the Hard Rock Hotel parking lot in Las Vegas, anyways. At least with my iPhone, everything is in one place.

TomTom makes navigation easy on the iPhone.

As an added bonus, thanks to multitasking I can stream my SiriusXM while using TomTom for navigation, and still be able to get texts and phone calls as I go. No sweat at all.

Saving Money

Most of the time I’m travelling for business, and I need a way to keep track of my mileage. My current app is Xpense Tracker, and although it’s not perfect, I’m finding it suitable for tracking mileage for tax purposes. For mileage per gallon, I’ve tried Gas Book before, and that’s not too bad, either.

Gas seems to creep up in price every day, and most of the time I’m driving a vehicle with horrible MPG (although short distances), so when I need gas I want it cheap. I’ve had mixed results with a few different apps, but recently Fuel Finder has been doing OK on my end. There’s still no perfect option for me, but I’ll keep looking.

The Oddball Stuff

I build custom cars, and sometimes the speedometer in the car doesn’t match the actual speed I’m travelling. Worse yet, some of the older cars I’ve driven have speedometers that fluctuate wildly, or randomly fail. It’s never a good idea to get busted for speeding, so I went out and bought Speedometer!. Now I have a way to track my speed on those test runs, or when the car decides that it doesn’t want the stock speedometer to work.

When my car is in the shop, it means that I have to find an alternative mode of transportation. Usually it’s a rental car company such as Hertz or Zipcar, but if I ever want to ride the bus, there are options as well. I’m in Phoenix, so public transportation is just getting started. But if I were in NYC or another major city, the options for subway and transportation are pretty limitless.

Although I’m a car guy, I’m not an expert on everything mechanical. As a result, there are apps I use when I’ve got a problem with my car, such as RepairPal, or if I’m stuck and can’t diagnose the problem, there’s always AAA Roadside.

Final Thoughts

At first glance, it seems obvious that the iPhone would make driving a more positive experience. After all, being able to play your music while driving is one of those things that some people take for granted. But by expanding your options and looking at what you can do a little bit differently, you can actually do a whole lot more with your iPhone than you ever thought of. And this is just what I use on a day-to-day basis. If you’ve got other ideas or suggestions, leave them in the comments!

There have been a few different assistant apps on the App Store in the past few years, including the popular Siri, which was so great that Apple bought it up. There are even rumors that soon Siri will be integrated into iOS 5, and we’ll all have personal assistants in our pockets.

Until then, Siri has languished from a lack of updates so in came Nuance Communications with their answer, Dragon Go! This is a voice-activated assistance app just like Siri, except on steroids. Want to know more? Hit that more link and let’s get talkin’.

The Premise

It sounds like it’s from an episode of Star Trek, yet here it is in real life. What if we could just talk into our iPhones and ask a question, then get back an answer? Wouldn’t that be like living in the future?

The first step in the tutorial walks you through the process.

Well it’s just like living in the future, and it’s actually been around for a year or two now with Siri. The latest competitor to the fold though is Dragon Go!, an app that improves on Siri’s interface while also providing more useful information. Backing it up is the speech recognition software that Nuance is known for, creating a winning combination.

How It Works

The app has a pretty nice tutorial that walks you through how everything works. Long story short, you hit the record button on the screen and then ask your question. You can ask about websites, movies, Twitter feeds or even music on your iPhone, just ask a question and it will spit out the answer.

Part two of the tutorial explains the tab system.

The neat trick though is how the results are displayed. When you ask a question — “Directions to 56th street and University” — the app thinks, then pulls up a series of tabs across the top of the screen. The one front and center is what Dragon Go thinks will offer you the best opportunity to answer your question. Any of the tabs flanking the center also have search results, so you just swipe side to side to see what they are. It gives you a wide variety of options, which helps immensely.

Putting It Through the Paces

To see if this thing really worked, I decided to try it out on a few basic tasks to see how it did. First, I asked Dragon Go if it could find me “Voice Notes on AppStorm.” In an interesting twist, it pulled up “Voice Notes on the App Store,” but the first Google hit was our post on AppStorm. Fascinating.

Different searches bring up different results.

Next, I shot for the nearest beach. Being that I’m in Arizona, the closest beach is either in Mexico somewhere or off the lower part of Southern California. Sure enough, anything with “Beach” in the name came up on Yelp, which was my first search tab. I tried again with other options, including picking a movie and things like that, and I came up with pretty good results each time. Overall, I’d say Dragon Go! got about 8/10 right.

Expansion

Search is cool, but sharing those results is pretty neat too, and that’s something that Dragon Go! does as well.

Get social and share your findings with friends.

Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, hit the arrow on the bottom of the screen and a menu will pop up with all sorts of options. The two that made the most sense to me originally was SMS and email, because if I’m trying to coordinate an event or something similar, that’s the way I’m going to get the word out. But then I thought about sharing links on Twitter and Facebook, and then the app started to take on a new aspect. I could tweet out to the world that I found this great new restaurant on Yelp, or tell all of my Facebook friends about a blog post I found.

Final Thoughts

So is this the perfect assistant? Well, it’s pretty close. I have the Dragon Dictation app on my iPhone, and I use it all the time. I found that Dragon Dictation was more accurate than Dragon Go! in my tests, which was weird because one would think they’re using the same translation engine. I was also debating if this could replace Siri on my iPhone, because Siri hasn’t been updated in a long time now. I think it could, but the wide variety of things it does know versus what it doesn’t means that there’s a little bit of a learning curve to the app. It takes a few rounds to figure out what exactly you can ask it, then remember those terms for the next time.

Overall though, this is a great app. There are a few missteps here and there, but ultimately, it’s one of the best assistants out in the App Store today — just tweak a few things and it’ll be perfect.

Looks like we’ve made it through another week! As summer wears on (and the temperature keeps rising) we bring you more excellent games to hide out in the shade with.

Just a reminder, if you’d like your game featured on Game Friday, then don’t hesitate to send us an email and if we like what you’ve got, we’ll happily include it!

Bean's Quest

Bean’s Quest

It’s been a while since we featured a good retro-inspired game, and right on cue, Kumobius recently released their new game, Bean’s Quest, which manages to be a near perfect example of balancing retro stylings with modern gameplay innovations.

Emilio’s not having a good day. His girlfriend has been captured and he himself has been turned into a jumping bean. To make things worse, someone stole his pets too and has littered the world with nasty monsters. The premise is cute but basically invisible, as you’ll mostly just be making your way through level after level of 16-bit pixel perfect goodness. Emilio bounces automatically, so your only task is to control his left/right movement, making for an interesting take on the platforming experience. Each level also features a jump count to aim for. If you can complete the level with only that many jumps, you get a badge — but beware, it’s very challenging!

The levels are vibrantly decorated and there are many subtle production details that combine to form an attractive and pleasing visual experience. The controls and audio are also strong, and the addition of some cool physics-based gameplay elements work wonders. No matter how you look at it, Bean’s Quest is a spectacular game, and with even more levels promised in an update, it seems like it’s only going to get better.

Price: $2.99
Developer: Kumobius
Download: App Store

Temple Trouble

Temple Trouble

Breaking away from convention and familiarity, Temple Trouble is a strange but compelling adventure puzzle game depicted from a top-down perspective. Strange, but nicely executed.

As Captain LeFop, you find yourself lost in a jungle. Your only way out is through a series of temples, each one chock full of monsters and fiendish puzzles that make use of familiar dungeon crawling mechanisms like block pushes, pressure switches, bombs, etc. In fact, it almost plays like a portable Zelda game.

The game features a large variety of levels and is very attractively styled, so anyone who’s after a fresh puzzler or a unique adventure game will find something to love in Temple Trouble.

Price: $1.99
Developer: Sticky Studios
Download: App Store

Connectrode

Connectrode

Back to the basics, Connectrode is an exercise is subtlety and finesse. The game’s design is clean and streamlined, which helps emphasize those same traits in the actual gameplay for this puzzler.

The levels in Connectrode are made up of a series of coloured computer chips. The goal is simply to eliminate all the chips from the board, and this is accomplished by connecting them to another like-coloured chip using a series of connector tiles. Tiles cannot pass each other though, so you have to be careful not to block yourself out of a section of the level.

Like all good games, Connectrode has a way of making time disappear, and it’s easy to lose yourself in the gentle challenge. Basic score sharing via Twitter and Facebook is enabled, and there are some combos to strive for if you’re feeling ambitious. Overall, Connectrode nails its target and earns an easy recommendation.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Deep Plaid Games LLC
Download: App Store

Stop The Vom

Stop The Vom

From the far side of normalcy, Stop The Vom emerges as a tricky balance game centered around preventing a bunny rabbit from vomiting. This uncommon premise is the setup for a simple but devilishly engaging game that brings a good balance of challenge and bizarre humour to the table.

After becoming stuck on a swing (by his friend, a cucumber), our hero must keep his balance to avoid becoming nauseous. The problem is, bunnies do not have sea legs. But there’s more to the game than simple tilt-based balancing. Birds will land on your head to try to upset the balance, and there are flying creatures that you must tap in order to lower the time counter for each level. Eventually, you’ll find yourself having to manage multiple rabbits, and that’s when things get really wild.

This is probably what you’d call a black humour game, and while the whole vomiting thing seems pretty disgusting, it’s really more odd and cute than anything else. The odd art style helps reinforce this feel, and if you have attention to spare you will catch some great details in the environments. Stop The Vom is a strange and wonderful little thing with more personality than most games you’re likely to find on the App Store.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Handsome Fellas
Download: App Store

Cut the Zombie

Cut the Zombie

For a humorous diversion, we’ll close with Cut the Zombie this week. This game is about dicing zombies and pumpkins while allowing villagers to pass by unscathed. This is Fruit Ninja: Halloween Edition, basically.

Gameplay is set up in “waves,” and it’s one of those titles that’s dead simple to pick up and play. The slicing is satisfying and sets itself apart a bit by having a variety of zombie and pumpkin types, some of which will require you to hack at them multiple times and then deal with the small pieces they split into, upping the challenge. All the while, you have to make sure to avoid hacking apart any villagers, which can sometimes be difficult given the game’s dark art direction in a few levels.

If you don’t mind an unobtrusive ad at the bottom of the screen, you can grab the free version of this time waster and have some zombie hacking amusement. As the game’s description says, Cut the Zombie is “unique end Very kill, never let you go, and enjoy the evil zombie war brought happiness!” We, um, couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Price: $2.99
Developer: HDapps
Download: App Store

What Have You Been Playing?

That’s a wrap for this week. Come back next Friday for a new set, and in the meantime don’t be shy about commenting — tell us what you’ve been playing, what you think of these games, and what hidden gems we missed!

Just yesterday, I reviewed the Qmadix Portfolio case for iPad 2 and was favorably impressed. It’s too bad I didn’t wait a day, because I could have done a smackdown between it and the new Crux360 (US$149). Both keyboard cases are a sign that manufacturers are doing their homework, listening to consumers, and producing innovative new designs to protect and enhance the iPad 2.

Design

The Crux360 comes in an attractive box that when opened, reveals the case wrapped in a reusable monofiber drawstring bag. Power is provided to the keyboard’s lithium-ion polymer battery through a standard micro-USB to USB connector that can be plugged into an iPad 2 power brick or any Mac or PC USB port for charging. While charging, a bright red LED just above the keyboard glows; it’s helpful, but you can’t tell when charging is done if you have the lid of the case down.

The Crux360 is a hard shell keyboard case, not a soft leather portfolio like the Qmadix. It can be used in four different modes: laptop mode, where the keyboard and iPad work together as a mini-laptop; movie mode, propping the screen up in landscape orientation for easy video viewing; tablet mode, where you’re using the iPad in its native mode; and carry mode, in which the case is closed and protecting the iPad from scratches and dings.

The hard shell of the case has a soft-touch finish, meaning that it is easy to grip and not likely to slip out of your hand. The hinge that connects the “screen” portion of the case with the keyboard is the namesake of the Crux360, as it will rotate through a full 360°. This hinge is very stiff, which allows the case to hold your iPad in the assorted modes without the various props and velcro tabs that you see on so many other cases.

Inserting an iPad 2 into the case is a cinch — the top of the case is in two parts, so you just pop the iPad 2 in, press the two parts together until they click. This takes a little force, but you will feel confident that the iPad isn’t going to fall out of the case.

What’s interesting about the design is that the keyboard has four “feet”, one in each corner. Sure enough, when you’re using the Crux360 in movie mode or have it flat on a table in tablet mode, those feet keep the keys from being accidentally depressed. Of course, you’ll probably want to turn off the keyboard if you’re using the Crux360 and iPad in your lap.

The Crux360 keyboard has a power-saving mode that makes the most of the 510 mAh battery by switching to a low power setting after two minutes of non-use. Touching any key brings the keyboard back to full life. As with the Qmadix keyboard yesterday, the Crux360 has replaced function keys with a bunch of iPad-specific keys. There are 17 altogether on the Crux360, six of which provide the same music-related track/play/volume functions. The copy and paste buttons are accompanied by select all and cut buttons, and there’s a special button for changing the language on the iPad.

Finally, the Crux360 works like the Apple Smart Cover, automatically turning on your iPad 2 when the case is opened and turning it off when it’s closed.

Functionality

How did the Crux360 do in my tests? Very well, thank you. As with the similarly-priced Qmadix keyboard case, the Crux360 has a very high-quality feel to it. While I’m not sure how long a “normal” charge takes, I was able to charge up the Crux360’s battery in about 90 minutes prior to testing.

Turning on the keyboard just takes a five-second press on the dished On button. The red power light glows for a second, letting you know that the keyboard is on. To pair the keyboard with an iPad 2, there’s a small button that makes up part of the power light. Pressing it for several seconds puts the keyboard in discoverable mode, at which point pairing with the iPad is done quickly.

The hinge on the Crux360 is almost infinitely adjustable and holds the iPad in place in a variety of positions. Crux Case says that the hinge is good for up to 10,000 open/close cycles, so it should outlast most iPads.

The keyboard has a good feel, but is a bit loud in operation. One thing I didn’t like was the size of the delete button — on the Qmadix Portfolio, the delete button was almost normal sized. Here, it was the size of any of the regular letter or number keys. In addition, there were three command keys, as well as two shift keys on the right side of the keyboard. Right next to the Enter / Return key is another Enter key. There’s nothing wrong with the extra keys, but the placement and number of the keys just seems … odd.

Putting the case onto an iPad 2 is really quite simple, as everything slides into place. Pulling the iPad 2 back out of the case was another matter — I had to enlist my wife’s help in holding onto the keyboard side of the case while I pulled the iPad out with the other. Crux Case notes that you may need “extra hands” available when removing the case, and they certainly weren’t kidding.

The Bottom Line

The Crux360 is a very versatile and well-made keyboard case for the iPad 2. The solidity of the case is excellent, and the price is not out of line with other keyboard cases. Other than the odd placement of several keys on the keyboard, I was able to quickly start touch-typing on it. As an iPad stand, the Crux360 also does a good job although it doesn’t work in portrait orientation.

If you’re considering using your iPad 2 as a laptop replacement, you might want to wait for a few months. Crux Case is coming out with a new case called the Crux Loaded that will feature a Bluetooth trackpad for actually controlling the cursor on the iPad screen. Crux plans on charging a steep $249 for the Crux Loaded, which means that the total price tag for a mid-range iPad 2 and the keyboard case would start getting into the range of an entry level MacBook Air.

For a student or commuter who wants to protect an iPad 2 while having a Bluetooth keyboard on hand for fast typing, the Crux360 is perfect.

Crux360 raises the bar for iPad 2 Bluetooth keyboard cases originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has extended song previews to 90 seconds in some international iTunes music stores. As noted by MacRumors, the extended previews are available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other parts of Europe. As with the US store, not all songs will have 90 second previews; some are still limited to 30 seconds.

When Apple first began offering 90 second song previews in the US back in December they apparently did so without consulting the music labels. Instead they simply added a new agreement to iTunes Connect that the labels had to accept to continue adding songs to iTunes. It read: “We are pleased to let you know that we are preparing to increase the length of music previews from 30 seconds to 90 seconds on the iTunes Store in the United States. We believe that giving potential customers more time to listen to your music will lead to more purchases.”

Have 90 second song previews appeared a country not listed above? Let us know in the comments.

Apple adds 90 second song previews to some international music stores originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 30 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not too long ago I came across the Frotz interactive fiction app in the app store when answering some feedback from an aspiring writer who was wondering how to create this type of app.  While text adventure games are not everybody’s cup of tea with 587 reviews for Frotz at the time of this article it is clear that there does appear to be a good demand for these types of games.

I’ve also come across a library that allows you to easily create your own text adventure game.   What I really like about this library is that it is purely object oriented so this makes it very easy to use.  You can see by looking at the example game that comes with the framework exactly how this is done.

You can find the homepage for the framework on Github here:
http://orta.github.com/WibbleQuest/

Now make sure you use these commands when downloading from Github to make sure you get all the extensions:

 git clone git://github.com/orta/WibbleQuest.git
 cd WibbleQuest
 git submodule init
 git submodule update

You can find the Google Code page for Frotz here if you’d like to create something utlizing the Z-Machine format (the standard interactive fiction format first created by Infocom):
http://code.google.com/p/iphonefrotz/

I’m not too familiar with the Z-machine format, but if you are you may want to check it out.  There is a pretty extensive community across the internet of interactive fiction fanatics who use this format.

Creating some interactive fiction could be a pretty fun project.

Frotz was added to the Open Source iOS Apps listing.

©2011 iPhone, iOS 4, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.

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I haven’t been a real fan of most keyboard cases for iPad for three main reasons — the keyboards are usually tiny, they use “chiclet” keys, and they’re stuck in one place and can’t be moved around. Accessory manufacturer Qmadix has just introduced the Qmadix Portfolio with Removable Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad 2 ($149.99) that promises to change all of that. How does it live up to the promise? Read on for my complete look at this new contender.

Design

Compared to most of the portfolio cases that we’ve tested over the years, the Qmadix Portfolio has a feel of quality around it. The leather exterior is smooth and beautiful, and the stitching is close and tight.

As for the keyboard, the keys are closer together than on the $69 Apple Bluetooth Keyboard, but it’s a real keyboard with a good feel to it. It’s also made with Apple fans in mind — unlike most of the iPad keyboard cases we see that are repackaged Windows BT keyboards, complete with a Windows button to bring up the Start Menu. Not with this keyboard, which actually has the Apple command key properly marked and in the correct place.

The keyboard comes encased in a leather holder that attaches to the main case with magnets. The keyboard is inset a bit, so the leather acts as a nice wrist pad that is actually quite comfortable while typing.The case also has a magnetic latch to keep the cover closed for travel. There’s a four-foot micro-USB to USB charging cable to keep the keyboard battery juiced up. According to Qmadix, the battery takes anywhere from four to six hours to fully charge, but will last for up to 30 days depending on usage.

Using the Portfolio Keyboard

The keyboard is uniquely suited for use with the iPad. The function keys we’re used to on the top row of our keyboards have been replaced with iPad-specific function keys. Here’s what they do:

o. Take you back to the iPad Home Screen
o. Enable the Search function of the iPad
o. Copy
o. Paste
o. Take you to the photo slideshow
o. Display or hide the virtual keyboard
o. Take a screenshot
o. Go to the previous song or track
o. Play / Pause
o. Go to the next song or track
o. Mute the iPad
o. Raise the volume
o. Lower the volume
o. Turn off the iPad (lock screen)
o. Switch the font on the virtual keyboard

I was able to get all of the function keys to work except one. I couldn’t figure out what apps the last button was meant to work with. Remember, you’ll still need to tap on your iPad screen for certain commands, but the function keys can keep you from having to do too much tapping. There is at least one other keyboard with these same function keys — the Logitech Keyboard Case for iPad 2 by Zagg.

How’s the feel of the keyboard? I liked the tactile feedback of the keys, but found that they were a little too close together for my style of typing. That’s a common issue with most portfolio keyboard cases, since they’re trying to keep the size of the portfolio down to the size of the iPad. I’d frankly rather see someone make a nice case that would hold a keyboard the same size as the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard — heck, just make a nice portfolio that would hold an iPad and an Appel Bluetooth Keyboard. That being said, I was able to get used to the Qmadix keyboard very quickly.

The Bottom Line

So who is the Portfolio for? With the price tag, it’s most likely going to appeal to executives or those who are willing to pay a bit more for the quality and convenience. Those who are looking for a cheaper alternative can find many other Bluetooth keyboards, not the least of which would be the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard. The Kensington Folio Keyboard ($100), ClamCase ($149), the CaseGoods TypeCase ($149), and Logitech Keyboard by Zagg ($100) all use a similar design, but with fixed keyboards. Heck, if you have the Apple Camera Kit, you could probably pick up a flexible Monoprice USB keyboard for $7 and use it, but I don’t think you’d be happy with the chiclet keyboard.

The Qmadix Portfolio feels great to type on and the iPad-specific function buttons are well-implemented. The case itself is quite stylish and looks like it would stand up to a lot of use, and it’s nice to know that the keyboard can be moved to a comfortable spot for any typist. Of all the portfolio keyboard cases on the market right now, the Qmadix Portfolio is the best of the bunch.

Qmadix Portfolio brings removable Bluetooth keyboard to an iPad 2 case originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple is rumored to be adding NFC support to the iPhone at some point in the future, but here’s a way you can add wireless payments to your iPhone right now. You don’t have to solder an NFC chipset, install any applications or even apply a sticker, all you have to do is pop off the back of the iPhone and stick an NFC payment card inside. The procedure is detailed over at Unplggd and it seems easy, once you overcome the fear of cracking the glass back of your iPhone.

Hack adds NFC payment to your iPhone originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like the rest of us, the Washington Post is taking a look at Lion after a week of use. It’s mostly positive, but writer Hayley Tsukayama finds Lion a bit quirky. Chief criticisms are the change to natural scrolling (which can be turned off) and some of the complicated gestures when using a track pad. Mission Control also gets a thumbs down.

The positives from Tsukayama’s perspective are the stability, overall simplicity and increased security of Lion. The article suggests a person test drive it for awhile before pulling the trigger if you harbor some doubts. I know in my case I turned off many of the new features to make Lion more like Snow Leopard. I was also disappointed in the mail bugs (it just doesn’t work with some POP accounts and I have a 13 year old legacy account I still want to use) and my network attached storage is defunct unless I get (fingers crossed) a firmware update.

OK, readers. After a week of use is Lion a hit or a miss for you? Or more of a mixed bag? What should Apple do to make you happy?

The Washington Post reflects on Lion’s first week of availability originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google is rolling out an update to its google.com search page that’ll make it even more tablet-friendly. Text, buttons and other page elements are now slightly bigger and easy to touch with those big, fat fingers. Like it or not, the page now shares that Google+ look as well. The improved interface is available for the iPad and Android 3.1 tablets across 36 different languages. It’s a rolling update so if you don’t see it at first, keep checking back.

[Via Mashable]

Google updates its search page for the iPad originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T announced today that it’s throttling back the speed that the highest-usage unlimited data subscribers can use on the network.

Starting Oct. 1, these high-use customers could experience reduced speeds on AT&T network once they’ve hit a data limit for the month. They’ll still be able to access data, but at a much slower speed. The company said that it would provide notices and a grace period before cutting back on the user’s speed. It’ll be restored to full strength at the beginning of the customer’s next billing cycle.

AT&T says that this only affects 5 percent of the heavier data users on the service. These people use more than 12 times the rest of data users combined. As 9to5Mac reported, Verizon and Virgin have also adopted similar plans to deal with bandwidth hogs. While AT&T hasn’t released its data threshold, 9to5Mac gives Virgin’s, which is 256Kb/s once you’ve reached a 2.5 GB limit. It wouldn’t be shocking to see AT&T have a similar limit. Most likely, the upper threshold will be around 4GB, which is the company’s top-tier data plan at this time.

AT&T to throttle speeds for some unlimited data users originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple fans who are still looking for a replacement for Quicken or Quicken Essentials on the Mac might want to hold out for the Mint iPad app. The company has been hounded by iPad users for quite some time to make a native app, and TUAW reader Steve C. pointed out that the company has admitted that they’re working on a “brand new experience for the iPad.”

In the note above, found on Mint’s GetSatisfaction support forum, Mint Customer Advocacy Director Stephen Mann notes that they can’t confirm any dates yet and are asking Mint users to “please hold on for just a little while longer.”

Mint’s free iPhone app has been extremely popular with users, with a 4.5-star rating for the current version on the App Store. The company is part of Intuit, and its web-based app is known for excellent budgeting and automatic categorization functions.

Mint “busy developing an iPad App” originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nothing compares to cradling your first newborn baby in your arms. It’s a memorable moment you’ll never forget. Though holding a newborn never grows tiring (trust me I know), there are other parts of parenting such as nursing and colic that can be a challenge. Here are five iOS apps to help you navigate the sometimes rocky, but always rewarding time of being a new Mom or Dad:

Baby Shusher ($4.99)

Baby Shusher is an app to help calm your fussy baby. It uses a quiet shushing sound that mimics the sound of the womb. There’s a timer that lets you “shush” for up to 8 hours and an equalizer that adjusts the volume according to your baby’s cries. The latest version of the app adds in support for forums so you can share your experiences with other moms. Baby Shusher requires iOS 4.2 or later and is compatible with the iPhone, 4G iPod Touch (NOT 2G or 3G iPod Touch) and iPad.

Baby Geek ($0.99)

Raising a newborn is a science. You have to watch its weight, count its diapers and keep track of its sleep. Once your child begins to grow, you’ll want to record milestones both for medical reasons and posterity sake. To help with this technical part of child rearing, you’ll want to check out Baby Geek. Baby Geek is a logging and analysis app custom-made for tracking babies up to age 3. Besides tracking your baby, Baby Geek also has a syncing option so you can share important baby information. There’s also an email option so you can send the stats to your doctor or another caregiver. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

Baby Monitor and Alarm ($2.99)

Baby Monitor and Alarm lets you use two iOS devices as a baby monitoring system. You leave one device in the room and carry around the other so you can hear your baby while it sleeps. The app also plays soothing music from your iTunes library. You can even record your own voice and have it play back while your infant falls asleep. When the baby begins to stir, an alert function will call you on any phone number. It’s great for home use, even better for when you’re traveling. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

Skrappy Digital Scrapbook ($2.99)

Skrappy is a digital scrapbooking app for the iPad. It’ll let you take those cute baby pictures and turn them into a keepsake. It’s a full-fledged scrapbooking app with support for images, videos, clip art, backgrounds and more. If you want to take pictures of your baby, make them cute and share them with the grandparents, this is the app do it. Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Diapers.com Free (Free)

Unless you go the cloth route, diapers are a fact of life for every parent of a newborn. And, boy, are they expensive which is why it’s so nice to have the diapers.com app on your iOS device. The app is a mobile interface for the diaper.com website which offers diapers at a discount. You can place new orders and track existing orders right from your phone. It also has a scanning feature so you can do some comparison shopping if you find yourself hunting down wipes at your local Target or Wal-Mart. Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later.

Five apps for the new Mom or Dad originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola announced yesterday that it expects to sell anywhere from 1.3 to 1.5 million Xoom Android tablets for the year. By comparison, Apple figures disclosed during the third quarter financial call show that the company sells that at least that many iPad 2s every two weeks.

The Xoom was widely expected by Motorola to be an “iPad-killer,” and the company was the first to market with an Android tablet. Unfortunately, being first meant that there were very few apps available for the device, that the Xoom didn’t ship with support for 4G LTE, and that it isn’t running the Android 3.x “Honeycomb” operating system found on competing Android tablets.

Not only is Motorola selling fewer Xooms than expected, but the devices are being sold at a discount to clear out inventories in anticipation of new Motorola tablets rolling out later this year. The company is placing its future hopes on tablets and smartphones that will operate on Verizon’s fast 4G LTE network.

In the meantime, Apple is steamrolling over the company that used to be the undisputed leader in mobile technology, and doing it without the one feature that Motorola touted in its 2011 Super Bowl ad — Adobe Flash.

Apple selling more tablets every 2 weeks as Motorola will all year originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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