Category: I-phone

GV Mobile+, the unofficial Google Voice app for iPhone, by Sean Kovacs, has finally returned to the AppStore which shows that Apple has relaxed some of their AppStore policies. GV Mobile+ in now available in US AppStore for $2.99.


GV Mobile+ was the first ever Google Voice app for iPhone but was pulled from the AppStore for no valid reason. But now it got approved after GV Connect, a bit disheartening, given that he was one of the first off the bat in the original round.

NOTE: GV Mobile+ is currently being populated in throughout the world so be patient if it doesn’t appear in search results.

Download GV Mobile+

You can purchase and download GV Mobile+ from the AppStore for $2.99. [iTunes Link]

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Apple has just pushed an update to the Apple Store app for iPhone, and iPod Touch. Apple Store 1.0.2 now supports iOS 4 multitasking, Retina Display of iPhone 4 and comes with various bug fixes. Change-log after the jump…

Using Apple Store app you can access the Apple Online Store from your iPhone, iPod touch and purchase any product.

• Retina Display image support
• iOS4 multitasking support for iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS
• Various bug fixes and improvements

Download Apple Store App

You can download Apple Store App for free from the AppStore. [iTunes Link]

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The first, unofficial, Google Voice app for iPhone called “GV Connect“  is now available in the AppStore for $2.99. GV Connect allows Google Voice-powered support for calls, SMS, and voicemail. GV Connect is NOT Sean Kovac’s GV Mobile +.

• GV Connect is a native iPhone/iPod Touch application which allows you to interact with your existing “Google Voice” account much faster than using the web interface:
• Place calls using your Google Voice number rather than your mobile number – enter number directly, select a contact from your device’s contacts, or call back any number in your history.
• Send and receive text messages (SMS) from your Google Voice number.
• Listen to voicemails and recorded conversations right on your device (allowing you to pause, rewind, or fast forward to any point within the message) – voicemails will also show the transcription of the message when available.
• Mark messages as starred, attach notes to conversations, block/unblock senders, or delete conversations.
• Easily search in your history by contact, message, or note.
• Messages are stored on your device for offline access.
• Composing notes and text messages can be done in landscape mode.
• Quickly change various Google Voice account settings (call forwarding, do-not-disturb, message notifications, …) directly from within the application.
• Automatic checking for new messages while the application is active.
• Direct access to your device’s contacts without needing to synchronize them with Google
• All communication is done with the Google Voice website directly, no need to hand over your account information to a third-party.
• Full support for fast app switching in iOS4 and high-resolution graphics for retina displays.

GV Connect stores your account password securely in your device’s keychain for faster login when launching the application – communication is done via secure connections (SSL) to the Google Voice servers and no contact information (other than the contact’s phone number which is required to place a call or send a message) is sent to Google. All operations are fully synchronized with your Google Voice account.

NOTE: An existing Google Voice account is required to use this application

Download GV Connect

You can purchase and download GV Connect from the AppStore for $2.99. [iTunes Link]

Official Google Voice is also available as a web app.

via [MobileCrunch]

It’s been a little while since we’ve heard from St. Claire Software, makers of the well-known system utility, Default Folder X (which we’ve covered before). You may recall that we caught up with St. Claire Software developer Jon Gotow at WWDC ’09. Well, he’s got something new to announce today: App Tamer, a system utility for keeping CPU-intensive applications under control.

App Tamer is similar to some other utilities, in that it allows you to “freeze” selected applications so that they use up zero CPU time, leaving more processing power for other applications. What makes App Tamer special is AutoStop, which pauses and unpauses frozen applications when you switch away from or back to them. It also has options for temporarily unfreezing applications at a configurable interval, allowing apps to complete background activities even while frozen. It’s quite flexible, but takes very little user knowledge or time to get it up and running.

TUAWKeep your CPU under control with App Tamer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Voices That Matter: iPhone Developers Conference is just around the corner, and TUAW wants to make sure that every dev has a chance to attend. That’s why Pearson Education, publisher of a number of iOS development tomes, is offering a $150 discount to TUAW readers, a 22% discount off of the usual conference price of $695.

This year’s conference will be held in Philadelphia on October 16th and 17th, and features a number of top authors, such as Aaron Hillegass, Steve Kochan, and our very own Erica Sadun. Mike Lee will be giving a keynote address titled “Making Apps That Don’t Suck,” something that all TUAW app reviewers wish more developers would attend (just kidding). He’ll be joined by Graham Lee (no relation as far as we know) who will be speaking on security and encryption, Jeff LaMarch who will expound on multitasking the iOS way, and Chris Adamson, who is speaking about mastering media with AV Foundation. Erica’s going to be hosting a session on how to add video out capabilities to your iOS apps.

To take advantage of the special TUAW discount, visit the conference registration page and use the priority code PHEM898.

TUAWiOS devs: Get a TUAW discount at Voices That Matter iPhone Developers Conference originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a fun rumor to give you something to dream about this weekend. Digitimes is reporting that Apple is on the hunt for parts for the iPad 2. The company is reportedly in the validation stage with a few suppliers for touch-based displays and reinforced glass, prepping production on a second generation iPad for a launch in early 2011.

That’s all we’ve got — there’s no details on what new features the iPad might have (although a camera would be an excellent guess) or any other way it might differ from the current model, but it looks like most of the speculation has been on target so far. There’s still quite a while to wait (and honestly, I’d still recommend buying an iPad if you want one right now — next year is still a ways away, and 4.2 will make even the “old” units seem new again), but there’s almost no doubt another iPad is going to happen next year.

[via TMO]

TUAWRumor: Apple working on parts for iPad 2 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GV Connect, the Google Voice client for the iPhone and iPod touch that caused quite a stir when it was pulled by Apple last year, has unexpectedly returned to the App Store. Developer Andreas Amann resubmitted the app last week following Apple’s new documentation on App Store acceptance.

GV Connect is now available in the App Store for a cool $2.99.

TUAWGV Connect app for Google Voice now available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On the eve of the most important holiday in the Jewish calendar — Yom Kippur, the day of atonement — it’s traditional for observant Jews to seek forgiveness for the wrongs they have done to friends and family over the past year.

For me, it’s far too late to atone for my slack study habits back when I was preparing for my Bar Mitzvah, but perhaps I can help out some struggling Hebrew school students out there with a quick pointer to the $1.99 iBless Torah app, a learning assistant specifically for the rite of passage for 13-year-olds.

iBless Torah includes the traditional blessings that kids learn & chant during their ceremonies, with audio assistance and word-by-word indications. I checked with the nearest available rabbinic authority — my wife, whose ordination as a rabbi is scheduled for May — and she gave it a thumbs-up. I’ll let her feedback take it from here:

The Hebrew chanting is clear and slow, with each word highlighting as it’s chanted, so it’s easy to follow. I like that in the Settings you can choose to see just Hebrew, just transliteration, or both.

The ‘About the Blessings’ section gives good, concise information and there’s a translation of the Torah blessings, which is nice. I’d like to see a translation of the Haftarah blessings added to the app. All the English explanations and translations refer to God as He, Him, and Lord; I would prefer gender-neutral language for God, but of course using masculine terminology when referring to God is very common.

The Reform Jewish tradition uses a blessing after the Haftarah that is significantly different from the one in this app. For the other three blessings, however, I would recommend this app to my students who are learning the Torah and Haftarah blessings.

Davka’s other apps are worth checking out, as well. Good luck, kids, and remember: just imagine that the congregation is sitting there in their underwear. If that helps at all.

TUAWiBless Torah provides a mobile trainer for Bar/Bat Mitzvah students originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Although my Apple addiction usually means that I have to run out and buy whatever new shiny thing has flown out of Cupertino, I’ve been able to resist getting one of the new iPod nanos. My iPhone plays music and movies, and I don’t wear watches, so I really haven’t been impressed.

Until now, that is. tipster Huey from Smack Dab Studios sent us a link to the video you see above. It’s a simple idea; create name tag images, move them to the nano, then play them in a slide show while the nano is clipped to your pocket or lapel. The result? Something that will definitely capture the eyes of people you meet.

It’s certainly an attention-getter, and it’s a lot better than those sticky “HI, My Name Is Steve” labels that they love to hand out at meetings and get-togethers. Of course, you could buy a lot of sticky labels for the cost of an iPod nano, but they just aren’t as cool.

TUAWFound Footage: A clever iPod nano name badge originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve heard of Google’s instant search, then you’ll be right at home with iTunes Instant. We’re all aware that iTunes doesn’t have the most friendly of search engines, but thanks to youthful developer Stephen Ou, searching the iTunes store just got a whole lot easier.

iTunes Instant doesn’t just give you suggestions or recommendations as you type in a search query, it actually gives you real-time search feedback (album and artwork in this case) as you enter a query, character by character. Possibly the best thing about iTunes Instant is that it’s the work of Ou, a 15-year old based in the Bay Area in California. According to TheiLoop, Ou developed iTunes Instant in under three hours, using Apple’s own Search API.

Ou says that iTunes Instant “will make your life better.” And we’re inclined to believe it. Trying to search for an artist that you can’t quite remember the name of in iTunes can produce some rather unfruitful results. Using iTunes Instant just might be the ticket to solving such frustrating queries.

Try iTunes Instant for yourself here. If you’re interested in searching the App Store instead of the music store, Jordan Satok’s App Store Instant on App Of The Day uses similar techniques. Satok and Ou are buddies, and Ou contributed to the development of the app search tool as well.

[hat tip to 9to5Mac]

TUAWiTunes Instant: Search iTunes at high speed thanks to 15-year-old developer originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Livebloggers, rejoice! Justin.TV, one of the world’s most popular live video streaming services, has released its new app for the iPhone and iPod touch in the form of an upgrade that enables live video to stream from the device. Both the app and service are free, but the app only works on devices with a camera. Streaming is done over WiFi or 3G, depending on availability.

Thanks to Kristi Evans for the tip!

TUAWJustin.TV live streaming iPhone app now available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you can see in the video above, China finally got the iPad (officially) this week, and Mac fans there were pretty excited about it. The device went on sale this morning at the Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai, and hundreds of people stood in the rain — one man was there waiting for two days. He’s the guy in the “I buy iPad” t-shirt, I think, and good for him; looks like it worked out all right.

Only the Wi-Fi models are on sale so far, 5588 yuan (US $826) for 64gb, 4788 yuan ($712) and 3988 yuan ($590) for 16gb. iPads have been available in China so far only through the “gray market,” unauthorized resellers from other countries. Early reports from the stores say that the iPad is selling better than the iPhone first did there, which is good news for Apple. It’s been hoping to gain a much better foothold in China recently, so a big release for the iPad is a nice step in that direction.

TUAWChina gets the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the iPad was originally announced (and, heck, when it was rumored), lots of us were dreaming up different ideas for how the iPad might revolutionize the way written content is consumed. There were books, of course, including comics, magazines and coursebooks. This is the first time, though, where I’ve seen a different kind of print medium successfully making the jump to digital: restaurant wine lists.

One upscale restaurant in Atlanta, for example, has decided to take its very extensive wine list and bring it over to the iPad, as the New York Times reported. The restaurant uses iPad-specific software to display its wine list, along with information on each wine, including ratings, pricing and pairing suggestions. Like traditional menus, the iPads are handed out to diners. The result of the switch is pretty impressive: wine sales shot up 11% from the first day the iPad wine list was introduced.

Similar experiences with iPad wine lists were noted at restaurants in New York City, London and Sydney. At least one company, Incentient, makes wine list software that several restaurants are using, while others are developing their own apps. [Chances are that FileMaker Go would work fine for most restaurants with modest wine lists. -Ed.]

I wonder why a simple web app isn’t used instead? Maybe it’s hard to keep a solid Wi-Fi connection through all those bottles of vino.

[via Cult of Mac]

TUAWiPad wine list boosts sales in high-end restaurants originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for all PlayOn users who own an iPad. Engadget is reporting that as of this week, joining the iPhone and iPod touch, PlayOn has released a much anticipated software update allowing you to stream content to your iPad, too.

With the power of Safari and HTML5, you can now watch streaming content from such providers as Hulu, Netflix, Comedy Central, ABC, CBS, MTV and ESPN3 (and many more) over Wi-Fi and 3G by visiting PlayOn’s web based app.

To harness the streaming power of PlayOn you need a running version of Windows (to get it setup) as well as a subscription to PlayOn’s Premium service. If you haven’t used PlayOn before, or you’re not sure it’s what you’re looking for, PlayOn offers a free 14 day trial so you can try before you buy.

[Via Engadget]

TUAWPlayOn now available for iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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