Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen I quite fancy the native Weather.app for iPhone: it’ simple and intuitive, providing some basic info about the weather and forecasts. And obviously, there are hundreds of clones out in the App Store: some apps are useful and “professional”, other are just pieces of shit thrown together into an .app bundle. That’s the truth.Today I’d like to talk about an app that has made it to the first page of my homescreen in a matter of 5 minutes and which has changed the way I “look at the weather” on my iPhone: Outside.  Outside is an application designed by Michael Flarup and developed by Will Wu of Robocats, a new and promising dev team. When I first launched Outside I asked myself two questions: “Is this the actual interface? Why would someone develop such an application?” Let’s start from the second one. Outside is a new twist on the typical weather application: it combines weather, local forecasts and notifications in a single, awesome package. It’s an application made for people who are really interested in the weather, like: “Should I wear a coat today?” and “When can I wear my favorite t-shirt again?”. Basic stuff, useful app. No complicated data or ultra-nerd graphs, Outside displays a window on the screen. A window, nothing more, nothing less.  Then, I said I asked myself if the interface was real. I mean, it’s very likely that you’ll think it’s the welcome screen: it’s so gorgeous it seems fake. After some seconds I realized the UI has been designed by Michael Flarup: Michael is 25 yo talented graphic and icon designer from Denmark, which blogs and showcases some of his works over at PixelResort. Now you understand how come it’s so gorgeous, huh? Movin’ on, let’s see what Outside could do for you.Well, it displays the... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen  The iPhone’s most elusive app to date is about to sweep back onto the scene -- but don’t look for it in the App Store, and you won’t even have to jailbreak your device to get it. Google Voice remains one of the most controversial apps for the iPhone. While Google themselves had Apple slam the door in their face before they even got to the App Store, a couple of small developers did manage to bring Google Voice to the iPhone, albeit briefly. In addition to Sean Kovacs’ excellent GV Mobile (which is still available for jailbroken devices), developer Riverturn was also there early on with VoiceCentral. Both apps were pulled from the App Store on the heels of Google’s own denial, and the resulting firestorm even set off an FCC investigation that is still ongoing. None of this sat too well with Riverturn (check out that full story here), so they’ve set out to change the rules by coming up with VoiceCentral Black Swan. They call it “the next revolution in iPhone applications,” meaning it’s not tied to the App Store nor is it a website optimized for the iPhone (which Google has been rumored to do for Voice since they were shut out). Riverturn calls Black Swan a feature-rich “weblication” that enables you to view and manage your Google Voice data just like a native iPhone application, combining the device’s easy-to-use interface with the convenience of an always-up-to-date web application. Among the features promised for Black Swan are a native iPhone look & feel, the ability to sync Google Voice data (including importing Google Contacts), offline access to Voice data, the ability to listen to Voice messages and read transcriptions and even swiping to delete calls, voicemails or SMS conversations. Black Swan is currently in a very limited beta, but if you... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen
It’s almost Christmas and everyone’s rushing to buy last-minute gifts for relatives and friends. If you ask, I bought all the gifts I wanted in one afternoon because I’m lazy and I didn’t want to waste my precious time but thing is, there this app which really helped me out during the whole process of choosing stuff for my friends and telling my mom what I wanted for Christmas. Yeah, I’ve been a good guy and my mom’s great, if you ask.Anyway, let’s move on and talk about the neat app Gift Box is.From the same developer of Years (I reviewed it a while ago) Gift Box shares the same attention to details and UI elements: I mean, the first thing you’ll notice it’s the interface, so beautiful. It’s a wooden UI with some paper graphics around, totally cool. The main concept behind... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Monday, 21 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen So, you’ve been put on the nice list this year, and Santa decided to get you an iPhone. Soon after getting it out of the box, you’ll realize how customizable the iPhone can be. However, navigating the world of iPhone apps can be overwhelming. With so many to choose from, how do you decide which ones to get first? It’s easy -- just check out our list of the essential apps for new iPhone users.
iPhone apps to keep everything running smoothly
First and foremost, your new iPhone is running great just out of the box, and since you’d like to keep it that way, your first download should be the System Activity Monitor. This iPhone app will keep your phone running in top shape, and also allows you to see what’s taking up your memory and then free it up. The app costs only $2.99, which is way better than waiting in line or on the phone for
Monday, 14 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch It was just last week that TomTom offered a new version of its nav app for the US (minus Canadian data) for $49.99US [iTunes link]. That didn't make people who bought the full version for a hundred bucks and never needed the Canadian info anyway filled with joy. Now, TomTom has dropped the price of the version that does include both the U.S. and Canada to $69.99 [ iTunes link] until December 28, making those earlier customers even more unhappy.
Price cuts, of course, are a way of life, and no one should be surprised that competition drives down prices. In my view, most of the iPhone GPS navigators are priced too high. I think somewhere between $35 and $50 is about right considering that you are providing all the hardware. Hardware solutions have really plummeted in price, with many selling for close to $100.00.
Friday, 11 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Gizmodo - Nobody wants to pay for iPhone apps, and some people simply don't. The good news is, you don't really need to: For almost every paid app, there's a fr...  
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Paul Westerberg, lead singer of The Replacements, used to sing “And everybody wants to be special here..They call your name out loud and clear.Here comes a regular, am I the only one here today?” in that mid-80s song, Here Comes a Regular. I believe this song pretty much describes the situation of to-do and notes taking applications available in the App Store: everybody wants to be special, yet a very few developers clearly admit that they have just “regular” apps. I mean, there are kinda 2000 notes / todo apps out there, and everybody says their app is the “most complete manager whatever bla bla bla”.Sure.But this is a different story. I had to write this review many months ago, but for one reason or another I never found the time to sit down and write it. I’m talking about AwesomeNote, of the most popular productivity apps of the App Store, which has been updated to 2.5 version,update that truly makes it the best GTD and note taking application ever made for the iPhone.Find out why.First, I’d like to say that AwesomeNote is different from Simplenote. Otherwise, I’d say Simplenote is the best note taking mobile application but they’re different. Simplenote is aimed at people who need to store quick notes / ideas, have them backed up... Continue Reading Original Article on Source Site
Wednesday, 09 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen Filed under: Freeware, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look, App Review The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), an Amazon.com company, has just released a free iPhone app [ iTunes Link] that puts the power of the huge repository of movie facts, fables, and trivia into the palm of your hand.
I use IMDb regularly, so when I saw that the app had been released, I downloaded it immediately. Upon launching, the app will ask if you wish to let it use your location -- this is used to display show times and movies for local theaters. While IMDb doesn't exactly have a beautiful interface, it's perfect for navigating the huge amount of information that is available.
The first page of the app displays three major areas: Movies, TV, and People. There's also an Application area, which is used only to display information about the App. Movies is subdivided into Showtimes, Coming Soon, US
Wednesday, 09 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen MacNN - Video hosting site Qik says it has submitted a new iPhone application to the App Store, one capable of live streaming. The present app has so far bee... 
Friday, 04 December 2009
Written by Aitan Roubini
Mac Zen's shared items in Google Reader >> This is a dynamically fed article and is not authored by Mac Zen
Dallas-based Big in Japan's breakthrough comparison-shopping app for the iPhone and Android phones, ShopSavvy, scored big over Black Friday Weekend. More than 612,000 bargain hunters used Big in Japan's barcode-scanning app on Black Friday alone, 7x the number of users on an average Friday. ShopSavvy enables users to comparison shop on-the-go for more than 20 million products at more than 20,000 retailers worldwide, simply by scanning the product's barcode using the phone's built-in camera.
|
Outside is an application designed by Michael Flarup and developed by Will Wu of Robocats, a new and promising dev team. When I first launched Outside I asked myself two questions: “Is this the actual interface? Why would someone develop such an application?” Let’s start from the second one. Outside is a new twist on the typical weather
Then, I said I asked myself if the interface was real. I mean, it’s very likely that you’ll think it’s the welcome screen: it’s so gorgeous it seems fake. After some seconds I realized the UI has been designed by Michael Flarup: Michael is 25 yo talented graphic and icon designer from Denmark, which blogs and showcases some of his works over at PixelResort. Now you understand how come it’s so gorgeous, huh? Movin’ on, let’s see what Outside could do for you.Well, it displays the...
