Fandango for IPhone 26/05/2010
So you just got your unemployment check and have a bit of free time? Let's go to the movies then. What do you want to see? Beats me, too. Let's check what's out. No, of course I don't have today's paper. Don't make me laugh. I've got my iPhone, though. I've got a couple of movie apps on it. Just downloaded Fandango the other day, as a matter of fact. I used Fandango all the time when my wife and I would go to the movies almost every Friday night. Of course, that was before we had kids. Good Web site, decent service. The Fandango app for the iPhone and iPod touch is pretty solid, too. It's functional and convenient. I wish it had a few more features, but the app carries out its raison d'être with aplomb. A movie ticket app really only needs to do two things seamlessly and well: It must let you search for movies near your location; more important, the app must let you buy the tickets with minimum effort. Most movie apps do a good job with the former by taking advantage of the handheld's GPS locator function, but trip over the latter. Fandango does both very well. When you launch the Fandango app, you'll see a list of movies currently playing in theaters. When you find a movie that interests you, tap the listing and a window will pop up with information about stars, running time, and where the film is playing near you. Most movies will have a trailer that you can watch by tapping the movie's poster. You can also tap the Theaters button at the bottom of the screen to browse all the features playing at your nearby multiplex. You can save your favorite theaters, which is a nice addition for creatures of habit. The app will show that day's movie times, but you can also look up times days in advance. The difference between Fandango and, say, Flixster's Movies app ( Macworld rated 3 out of 5 mice ) is that you can enter and save your credit card information in the app itself. Once you've done that, buying tickets is a mere matter of a few taps. I was generally kind to Flixster's Movies when I reviewed it in October, but I detested the way the app walked you through buying tickets. You ended up in Safari at Movietickets.com, trying to navigate several fields. It's an enormous pain. Fandango's solution is much simpler and more convenient. There are a couple of clear trade-offs with Fandango's approach, however. First, if you save your credit card information in the app and you happen to lose your phone, somebody could enjoy a night at the movies at your expense. (But that's all--the full credit card number does not display.) Second, Fandango will only let you buy tickets from Regal Entertainment Group theaters and that's about all. Fandango will show you movie times for other chains, but you won't be able to purchase tickets. That might be a deal-breaker for some moviegoers. Fandango doesn't have the frills and features of some other movie apps. The app doesn't link to news and reviews, show fan ratings or list this week's box office take. (Fandango's Web site does.) You can watch trailers for some current and future releases, but the app only lists attractions coming to theaters in the next week or two. Flixster's app, on the other hand, has trailers for movies months in advance and has a robust DVD section, too. The bottom line: Lacking the news features of Fandango.com and putting limits on the theaters from which you can buy tickets hampers Fandango's convenience and ease of use. Here's hoping any sequel to this iPhone app turns out to be better. Fandango is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.2 software update. Originally posted at: Pcworld.com Add Comment Why use iTunes when there is an easier option? If you like tinkering with your iPhone or iPod touch but get frustrated at the interface on the iTunes App Store, you now have another option. AppleBeacon has been created to take advantage of Apple's affiliate programme that shares five per cent of the revenue from certain iTunes sales with referring parties. The interface is fast and certainly better than iTunes, but the fact remains that purchases and installing the software on an iPhone still require iTunes at some point. Users who don't want to browse in iTunes or who have Linux computers, for which the Apple software is unavailable, can now browse the software through AppBeacon's site instead. Still, it hs to be good to miss all the ads and you can bookmark applications and permanently ignore others. That has to be a bonus. Originally posted By J Mark Lytle - Techradar.com The Best IPhone Apps Not in the App Store 26/05/2010
All this week, Macworld editors have picked their favoriteiPhone apps of the past year. And while these apps cover a diverse array of categories--entertainment, creativity, productivity, and so on--they share one common trait: All of them can be downloaded from Apple's App Store. Alex Sokirynsky's Podcaster was barred from the App Store, but you can still install it on your jailbroken iPhone. Well, before the App Store arrived, bringing Apple-approved applications along with it, there was jailbreaking-the process of busting open the iPhone and iPod touch to allow them to run third-party applications that were definitely not approved by Apple. While the App Store has enjoyed a great deal of popularity since its July debut, the jailbreaking community lives on and offers some very useful applications that you likely will never see from the App Store. Here are some of our favorites: Cydia: Jay Freeman's installer application, Cydia, is included when you jailbreak your phone with QuickPwn or the PwnageTool. It's with Cydia that you download third-party applications to your iPhone or first-generationiPod touch. (Included are applications for regular folks as well as developers. Cycorder: A free application authored by Freeman, Cycorder lets you shoot videos with your free iPhone's camera at frame rates from 6 to 15 frames per second. The resulting movies are encoded with MJPEG compression and are playable on your Mac. Winterboard: Another Freeman creation, integrated into Cydia, the free Winterboard lets you skin the iPhone and iPod touch's interface with themes also available via Cydia. Podcaster: This app by Alex Sokirynsky lets you stream and download podcasts directly to your iPhone or iPod touch-no iTunes required. Apple barred the controversial Podcaster from the App Store for allegedly "duplicating" functionality of the iPhone. Not to be denied, Sokirynsky began distributing it through Cydia and asking $5 per copy for his trouble. It's a polished and extremely useful application. Snapture: If you've ever wished that your iPhone's camera behaved more like a real digital camera and let you shoot in black-and-white and featured digital zoom, timer functions, and burst mode, Snaptured.com's free Snapture is the answer to that wish. Netatalk: Netatalk is the free iPhone/iPod touch version of the open-source implementation of the AppleTalk networking protocol. With it installed on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can gain access to the device's file system from your computer, just as you can with any other networked device. Having this kind of access is extremely helpful for moving files on and off the iPhone or iPod touch. OpenSSH: The free OpenSSH, integrated into Cydia, provides another way into your jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch. With it installed, you can use the Secure File Transfer Protocol to get into the guts of your device. Many of the applications that were available for jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches have disappeared and moved to the App Store now that it's open. But Cydia's catalog grows by the day-customization options, games, media readers, and utilities can be found. Although jailbreaking your iPhone or iPod touch won't hurt it (you can always restore it to its original condition with iTunes), doing so will void your warranty. In addition, while jailbreaking won't hurt your device now, there's no guarantee that changes made to the iPhone and iPod touch's software in the future won't cause problems with a jailbroken device. Originally posted at: PC World Downloads transform iPhone into handy tool 26/05/2010
It seems a shame to run down the battery of an iPhone by making phone calls. There are so many more interesting things to do with it since July, when Apple Inc. opened up the popular smartphone to outside software developers. The result is a torrent of helpful little programs, or "apps," that turn the free iPhone into a powerful handheld computer. At Apple's iTunes online App Store, there are thousands to choose from, with more turning up every day. Which are the best? Depends what you're looking for. I favor the powerful, the practical, and the cool - programs that do useful stuff and look stylish as they do it. I'm easily lost in the winding streets of Boston, so I like apps that take advantage of the Global Positioning System chip in the new free iPhone 3G. One of the best is Where, from Boston-based uLocate Communications Inc. Long available for other GPS-enabled phones, Where can now be installed at no charge on any iPhone. It comes with a search feature that will quickly locate nearby businesses and other points of interest, and even offers driving directions. If you've got a first-generation iPhone, which lacks GPS, Where uses technology from Boston's Skyhook Wireless Inc. to figure out your location based on signals from nearby WiFi Internet routers. Too bad the iPhone version of Where doesn't let users install extra "widgets" - mini-programs that enhance the software. For instance, there's a Where widget for ticket retailer StubHub that makes it easy to buy tickets to entertainment and sporting events. You can add this feature and many others to many other GPS-capable phones, but not the iPhone. Much as I like Where, another free iPhone program called Where To? is simpler and more powerful. It's preprogrammed with hundreds of possible points of interest. You don't have to type in, say, "florists," because it's already listed under shopping opportunities. Just tap the screen a few times, and up pops a Google map of your area, littered with flower shops. If you're in a hurry to find something, Where To? is the way to go. I'm always looking for handy ways to store digital data. I often plug an old iPod into a desktop computer and use it as a portable hard drive, but the iPhone doesn't allow it. That didn't sit well with developers at Avatron Software Inc., who have created an appealing app called Air Sharing. The program works with desktop computers connected to a Wi-Fi wireless network. Air Sharing links the iPhone to the Wi-Fi network, causing computers on the network to see the phone as a data storage folder. That allows users to drag and drop any file from the computer to the iPhone and vice versa. The system has its limits: Many office computers aren't accessible through Wi-Fi, for instance. But if you've got Wi-Fi at home, you can use Air Sharing to load documents, photos, and music files onto an iPhone, then view or play the files anytime, anywhere. Air Sharing costs $6.99. I also use my old iPod as a digital recorder, with the help of an add-on microphone that plugs in at the top. But the iPhone has a built-in mic, so all it needs for sound recording is a bit of software. An app called Recorder nicely fills the bill. This 99 cent download, created by Retronyms.com, is refreshingly simple: Fire it up and press the record button. Once you're done, you can use a Wi-Fi feature similar to Air Sharing to put the recording on a computer. Or if the file is small enough, e-mail it to yourself. Actually, the audio file is stored online by Retronyms, and the e-mail includes a link that allows it to be downloaded. Either way, Recorder gives the iPhone a valuable new capability at a dirt-cheap price. Thanks to its bright screen, the iPhone is a decent device for viewing electronic books. A couple of free apps, eReader and Stanza, take advantage of that. EReader runs an online store that sells electronic books. Use the iPhone's browser or any desktop browser to go online and order a title. The eReader app will install the book on the iPhone and display it in clear, legible type. Stanza is even more impressive. Start it up, and the app displays an array of Internet sites where you can download free electronic books, mostly older, out-of-copyright stuff. But you can also download up-to-date issues of major magazines like Wired and The Atlantic Monthly, and summaries of major newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. You can also install a program on a Windows or Macintosh computer that will collect your own text files, like Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF documents, and feed them into the iPhone through a Wi-Fi connection. With Stanza, you can read the files on the iPhone. At least until the battery runs out. But you can save lots of juice by making fewer phone calls. You've got better things to do, anyway Originally posted at: http://www.boston.com/ Apple this week announced that its App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch is available in 13 new countries. Newcomers to the App Store are the nations of Armenia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda. Developers can now log into their iTunes Connect page to view and update countries where applications are available, Apple announced. First launched in 2008, the App Store has been a tremendous success for Apple in driving sales of the iPhone and iPod touch. Last month, the company announced that more than 140,000 applications are available from the online download destination. Originally posted at Appleinsider The folks over at iHome have decided to update their iP90 iPhone/iPod alarm clock and here are some of the new features. Among those new features are a larger display and better sound quality. The iP90 continues to be able to charge and play music from the iPhone and iPod. Users can wake to playlists from the iPod or other sources. The clock has dual alarms and AM/FM radio presets. A Time Sync feature sets the time on the clock to the time on your iPhone or iPod. The improved sound comes from Reson8 stereo speaker chambers and the bass and treble is adjustable. A switch for changing at the flick of a button to daylight savings time is also featured. All of the buttons on the iP90 are backlit for easy use in a dark room. The clock will sell for $99. via SlashGear Originally posted at Topiphonenews.com This article is an overview of how to sync the following devices with your computer and where to get additional information.
You can sync
You only need to set which items are synced in iTunes on your computer once. After that, just connect your device to start a sync. Contacts, calendars, notes, and bookmarks are synced from (or to) your computer, so if you add, change, or delete them on the device, they are changed on your computer, and vice versa. You can also sync contacts with your Yahoo! or Google Address Book. Email-account settings, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos are synced one-way, from your computer to your device (though you can import photos taken with iPhone to your computer and you can transfer purchases from your device to iTunes). Using an iPad, you can send photos back to your computer (typically captured on iPad via the Camera Connection Kit). If you like, you can set your device to sync with only a portion of what's on your computer. For example, you might want to sync only a group of contacts from your address book, or you may want to sync only songs from certain playlists so you don't fill your device with your music. * Syncing is over USB only and on a Mac requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later. Products Affected iPhone, iPod touch, iPad Set up syncing You use iTunes on your computer to choose which items to sync. Make sure you have the most recent version of iTunes (on a PC, open iTunes and choose Help > Check for Updates. On a Mac, open iTunes and choose iTunes > Check for Updates.) 1. Connect
For more information about syncing your device with your computer, see the User's Guide:
The first time you sync your device, you are asked if you want to merge data, replace data on the device, or replace the data on your computer. When you choose to merge information, any differences between the data will be mingled together. If you choose to replace information, information from either the computer or device will overwrite the information on the other. These options can not be undone. After that, anytime you connect your device to your computer, iTunes opens and syncs with your device according to the settings in iTunes. You can adjust sync settings any time your device is connected to your computer. Note: Syncing won't delete any contact in Yahoo! Address Book that contains a Messenger ID, even if you've deleted the contact from your address book on your device or your computer. To delete a contact containing a Messenger ID, log in to your Yahoo! account online and delete the contact using Yahoo! Address Book. This article is an overview of how to sync the following devices with your computer and where to get additional information.
You can sync
You only need to set which items are synced in iTunes on your computer once. After that, just connect your device to start a sync. Contacts, calendars, notes, and bookmarks are synced from (or to) your computer, so if you add, change, or delete them on the device, they are changed on your computer, and vice versa. You can also sync contacts with your Yahoo! or Google Address Book. Email-account settings, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos are synced one-way, from your computer to your device (though you can import photos taken with iPhone to your computer and you can transfer purchases from your device to iTunes). Using an iPad, you can send photos back to your computer (typically captured on iPad via the Camera Connection Kit). If you like, you can set your device to sync with only a portion of what's on your computer. For example, you might want to sync only a group of contacts from your address book, or you may want to sync only songs from certain playlists so you don't fill your device with your music. * Syncing is over USB only and on a Mac requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later. Products Affected iPhone, iPod touch, iPad Set up syncing You use iTunes on your computer to choose which items to sync. Make sure you have the most recent version of iTunes (on a PC, open iTunes and choose Help > Check for Updates. On a Mac, open iTunes and choose iTunes > Check for Updates.) 1. Connect
For more information about syncing your device with your computer, see the User's Guide:
The first time you sync your device, you are asked if you want to merge data, replace data on the device, or replace the data on your computer. When you choose to merge information, any differences between the data will be mingled together. If you choose to replace information, information from either the computer or device will overwrite the information on the other. These options can not be undone. After that, anytime you connect your device to your computer, iTunes opens and syncs with your device according to the settings in iTunes. You can adjust sync settings any time your device is connected to your computer. Note: Syncing won't delete any contact in Yahoo! Address Book that contains a Messenger ID, even if you've deleted the contact from your address book on your device or your computer. To delete a contact containing a Messenger ID, log in to your Yahoo! account online and delete the contact using Yahoo! Address Book. Originally posted at Apple |
RSS Feed