Author Archive: Gareth

WSJ for iPhone released, offers paid content for free

Until recently the battleground of smartphone wars were hardware features. 9 months ago Apple launched an app store and everything changed. Now the main battleground of smartphone wars are applications: what kind of applications you can run on your smartphone and what applications you can’t. It looks like Apple is doing well in this battleground because there are several applications for iPhone and iPod touch that are not available for any other mobile platform. Wrong! Not only mobile: here comes WSJ app for iPhone that offers FREE access to content that even on PC and Mac is not free and must be paid for!

Here is how this app looks like:

T-Mobile USA TEK-onition™

What is a Tek-onition™, and what does it have to do with T-Mobile? It is my little cute reference to a premonition of tech things to come. This particular TEK-onition™ is regarding a potentially new feature on T-Mobile’s 3G network. Peaked your interest? Details after the click.

OK, let’s get to stating, and making the probability case for the current TEK-onition™:

TEK-onition™ 1 of ?

My techie sense leads me to believe that when T-Mobile USA releases, or announces, their version of the HTC Touch Pro 2, they will also be announcing a new feature for their 3G network…3G video calling.

iPhonedocked review Leaf Trombone World Stage

We gave this one a miss as to be honest, never quite got into the original Smule game Ocarina. Maybe it was just us as it was a hugely popular application. Anyway Geoff over at iPhonedocked has put together a video showing the application, what it’s all about and how to use it. Check it out after the break it does look a little different and may be your cup of tea.

Review: SplashNotes – yet another outliner for iPhone

Mobile software companies with big experience in making programs for PDAs and mobile phones are nowadays entering also iPhone market but some of their products for iPhone are not as good as they were in versions for other platforms. It seems that iPhone is a big reset where many established companies struggle to get market share and where many new, until now known companies are the winners.

Here we are reviewing SplashNotes for iPhone – a commercial outliner that allows for note taking in hierarchical way. It has been developed by SplashData – a company that before iPhone has been developing software for many mobile platforms, including Palm OS, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry.

Here is how this program looks like (main screen):

HTC Touch Pro2 videos

A Russian site have managed to get hold of an HTC Touch Pro2 and shared some videos of the hardware and software. The device is due for a June launch so this will be a pre-release ROM but never the less it is looking pretty good. The written review also has a lot of pictures with comparisons to the iPhone 3G, Diamond2 and the HTC Max. In case you missed it we posted our review of the HTC Diamond2 this week and will follow up with a Touch Pro2 review as soon as it is released. For now take a look at the videos after the break.

CableJive iStubz, a great solution for a cluttered desk

We discovered CableJive as a company less than a year ago when we had problems charging an iPhone 3G with a Dension Car Kit. It has been documented many times in the past, Apple removed the FireWire charging capabilities from newer iPods and the iPhone 3G. CableJive made a charge converter and their customer service and delivery time of their products has always been excellent from our experience. Now we have been sent some review sample of the iStubz short form iPod dock cables and what a very simple but brilliant idea.

The cables that come supplied with any iPod or iPhone are always way too long as they want to supply something universal that will cover everyone’s use, the problem with this is that you end up with cables coiled up on your desk and they are always in the way.

App Store hits the magic 1 Billion

We knew it was getting close but the ticker has just hit the 1 Billion downloads and we have to say that this an amazing achievement in such as short space of time. The App Store kicked off in July 2008 so in under a year to reach 1,000,000,000 application downloads is phenomenal.

Sure people will complain that lots of these applications are maybe poor quality fart apps or ebooks or whatever else, but there is no denying that Apple have changed the way we access applications and we now see all the other major platforms doing the same. So whatever OS you prefer, you owe Apple a thank you for providing the inspiration.

T-Mobile announces Blackberry Pay Once for a Year of Unlimited Email and Internet

Hot on the heals of Orange offering a pay as you go deal for a Blackberry Pearl, T-Mobile are now offering a pre-paid Blackberry Pearl which include unlimited internet and push email for a year.

The ˜Pay once’ concept is a market first, giving people the chance to experience the hugely popular BlackBerry email service and access to internet sites and social networks on the move for a year “ all for just a single payment of £179.99. Customers just have to top-up their credit as usual to make calls and send texts and picture messages.

T-Mobile’s new offer is set to make BlackBerry smartphones accessible to new groups of mobile phone customers. It’s sure to be a hit with students, letting them stay connected to family and friends by email, via IM, Facebook or MySpace. And for those just starting out in business “ whether they’re running a small business or entering the workplace for the first time “ it’s the perfect way to access personal and work emails, without the worry of hidden costs.

Championship Manager coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch

Many a late night I have spent playing this game on the PC and now according to Times Online this game will shortly be appearing in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is what they have to say:-

The Times can exclusively reveal that the best-selling football management sim Championship Manager is about to come to the iPhone.

Our man would not give a precise release date, but we believe that the new game is with Apple right now, and awaiting their approval for launch on the App store.

"ChampMan" as it is known to the faithful, started life in 1992 as a PC game, but has now gone mobile.

The iPhone version will come complete with all the usual stats and managerial headaches, with a 2D match engine. A 3D version for the next PC edition is currently in the works.

One thing we’re not clear about is how the new game will take full advantage of the iPhone’s touch screen. Watch this space for more details, such as price and playability, when we have them.

So there you go, another fantastic game winged it’s way to an App Store near you.

via Times Online and Just Another iPhone Blog