Mad For iPhone
The iPhone Blog
Can you have too many Bumpers?
Jul 23rd
iLounge have found that there are two errors related Apple’s free bumper program.
The first error will let anyone who previously bought their Bumper case to get a refund. In addition to this refund, the iPhone owner is still eligible for another free case, which will effectively give them two iPhone 4 Bumper cases for free.
There is a second problem that iLounge found was that the store that allowed for a single person to order multiple cases and refunds for already bought cases. While still being eligible for a free case. They say that one of their editors has already received More >
The iPod Wall
Jul 22nd
Below is a video showing the build of the Welikesmall iPod wall. It was made from 20 iPods over the course of about three weeks in our spare time. Tasks included building and designing the wooden box, programming an iPhone application that runs off the Game Kit framework, hacking a USB hardware fan together, developing a Python / Django web server application, and designing a quick UI. To keep the wall constantly powered they used a Cambrionix B2 USB powered hub.
MyFont App Review
Jul 21st
It seems the older we get, the more boring anything we present on paper gets. Once you’re seriously turning in reports/manuscripts/memos, you’re confined to a handful of fonts that deemed acceptable. As the owner of nearly a thousand fonts, I find this atrocious. Where’s the creativity? Amit Harel has one solution for iPhone and iPod Touch users: the MyFont app, which turns your own handwriting into a unique font.
It’s fairly simple: just tap Create New Font, and the app will take you through the alphabet twice (for upper- and lower-case letters) and the numbers 0-9. Fill in the appropriate letter More >
iBooks Updates
Jul 20th
After Amazon added the feature to have audio and video inside a book on their app Kindle late June Apple decided to follow. One month on and Apple provide iBook users with similar features to Kindle. Some of the new updates in iBooks are:
Listen to audio or watch video that is embedded into the book. View images in great detail by double tapping the image. Much better performance with viewing PDF files on iBooks. Stability updates, including the bug that caused books not to download fixed.
If you don’t already use iBooks, get it now (here) for free and experience the More >
We Rule Review
Jul 19th
We Rule takes players into a medieval world where the main objective is to gain experience by building up a medieval city. An excellent set of tutorial quests provide a seamless entry into the world of building a kingdom. Keep in mind I spent entirely too much time with Farmville when it first became big, so I have a familiarity with these games. If this is your time playing with a freemium style game, the time taken for anything to get done may take some getting used to. Instead of the standard pick up a game, play it, and put More >
Apple is not recalling the iPhone 4?
Jul 16th
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Apple is not planning on issuing an iPhone 4 recall at today’s press conference.
Apple’s iPhone 4 has been criticized by reports of antenna-reception problems since its launch last month. The company has called a news conference to discuss the issue Today. Apple doesn’t plan to recall the phone, a person familiar with the matter said.
Apple engineers were apparently aware of the risks associated with the external antenna design but “Mr. Jobs liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development”. Earlier today, a Bloomberg article similarly claimed an Apple engineer More >
1942: First Strike Review
Jul 16th
1942: First Strike, the iPhone debut of Capcom’s arcade classic. This was a game that helped define a genre, and I was eager to see it grace the touchscreen. Unfortunately, the game just did not live up to my expectations. It’s a decent-looking game, but 1942: First Strike’s low challenge level and poor controls really hamper it.
1942: First Strike is fun for the first few levels. The game looks decent, with clean, lightly cartoonish graphics and bright colors. There’s a dash of nostalgia here along with the simple fun of a combat shooter. It won’t strike you as terribly challenging More >
New iOS 4 Firmware update already?
Jul 15th
As we had earlier predicted today, Apple has released iOS 4.0.1 (8A306) for the iPhone 4, 3GS, and 3G. From what we understand, the update addresses changes to the signal strength indicators as Apple promised earlier this month.
- Improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display
Early reports coming for developers on the signal strength indicator changes included in the iOS 4.1 beta yesterday seem to suggest that the changes do not affect actual signal strength, but only adjust the visual aspects of the signal bar.
In other news Apple is holding a press conference tomorrow regarding More >
iPad 2? What the iPhone 4 may tell us.
Jul 15th
Now that iPhone 4 is official, it’s clear where the iPad is gonna be heading. Steve Jobs even gave us a couple clues.
CamerasFirst, it may be obvious that the next iPad will have a front-facing camera. Steve said that “Apple will ship tens of millions of FaceTime devices this year so there’s going to be a lot of people to talk to.” But wait, Steve! Isn’t the iPhone 4 the only FaceTime device in existence?
This isn’t confirmation that a new iPad with a front-facing camera will be coming any time soon —although with Apple you never know. But come next More >
Pocket Creatures App Review
Jul 14th
I never had a Tamagotchi, but there was at least one Furby in my past. The irritatingly needy fake pet was given to me as an amusing Christmas present years ago, and its plaintive cry of ‘hungry!’ still haunts me to this day. Of course, it was strangely satisfying to stuff your finger down its throat to shut it up, but in the case of Pocket Creatures, no such opportunity exists. Instead, you can do much worse!
In case it’s not clear at this point, Pocket Creatures is a virtual pet app for the iPhone. It’s safe to say that you’ll More >