Phil Shiller, Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing, was asked what his favorite iPhone Apps were, and here’s what he said:

• Shazam [Free - iTunes link]: “There’s just something so amazing about being anywhere, and some music starts playing and you just hold up your phone and can find out what it is,” Mr. Schiller said. “You never again have to say ‘That’s a great song! Who is it by?”
• CNN News [$1.99 - iTunes link]: “It’s really cool having the news in your pocket.”
• Facebook [Free - iTunes link]
• MLB.com at Bat 2009 [Currently free - iTunes link]
• NBA Game Time 2009 [$9.99 - iTunes link]
• ESPN ScoreCenter [Free - iTunes link]
• Eliminate Pro [Free - iTunes link]
• geoDefense [$1.99 - iTunes link]
• Best Camera [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Great apps!

Magazine publishers seem to already be getting on board with the concept of a media tablet even based on just the possibility that Apple will enter the market in the near future. The latest concept design comes from Time Inc who developed this design prototype to show off their plans. They think that digital magazines will replicate the print version, including advertising, and will include add-ons like multimedia and links to the Web. The publisher imagines that it will port all its titles into the new format, which it says will be ready for primetime by the middle of next year or sooner.

The ultimate design is planned to run on "whatever tablet Apple or any[one] else has up their sleeves" according to All Things Digital:

Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, launched the new service named Square (still in beta) that allows you to make or take payments using your iPhone.

All this happens through an accessory able to process credit cards that is connected to the the device.

User just need to enter the amount, the security code and the signature directly on the touchscreen. There are no charges of any kind, except a U.S. cent on every transition, which is donated to charity.

The system is able to display a bill with lots of information: the map, the amount, the number of times that we used this system of payments in that particular store, and much more.

The system is currently being tested in the US. Maybe one day we will all use it everywhere.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is a popular speech recognition software application for PC/Mac. Soon it will be released for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The program for the iPhone will capture a clip of about 20-30 seconds and turn into text everything that was said. Then you can send your dictation via email or SMS.

Here is a video demonstration:

Fring has added video calling support to the iPhone and iPod touch via Skype. This is a huge step further. iPhone became a videophone!

It works on Fring to Fring, and Skype to Fring. Unfortunately, it's not bi-directional. You would be able to see whoever is calling you from a desktop, but you won't be able to transmit your image. The reason is because the iPhone doesn't have a front camera, so you can't do face to face. The application will support two-way video calling if the iPhone and iPod touch gain front-facing cameras in the future. The company already supports two-way video calling on several Nokia phones with such cameras.

A promotional video highlighting the new video functionality has also been released:

Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of years ago, a company called Axiotron announced an aftermarket modification for the MacBook that converted the Apple laptop into a tablet. The modification remains for sale at $699 and takes a stock MacBook, removes the keyboard and screen, and adds a Wacom pen-based screen to give the device a tablet form factor.

Axiotron originally began marketing the devices as a "TabletMac" and filed a trademark for the term. Sometime in the past year, however, the trademark was transferred from Axiotron to Apple, and Apple is now listed as the owner of the trademark:

Now Apple could potentially release a product called the TabletMac. So what name? iTablet, MacTablet, TabletMac or maybe MacBook Tablet?

MacRumors has found a new Apple job listing seeking an iPhone Software Engineer to join the iPhone and iPod Touch Maps team with the goal of taking the iPhone's built-in Maps App to "the next level":

The iPhone has revolutionized the mobile industry and has changed people’s lives and we want to continue to do so. We want to take Maps to the next level, rethink how users use Maps and change the way people find things. We want to do this in a seamless, highly interactive and enjoyable way. We’ve only just started.

Apple and Google have increasingly become competitors in the mobile space while Google's mapping data remains an integral part of the iPhone's Maps application. Add this job listing to previous news that Apple quietly acquired Placebase, a would-be Google Maps competitor, back in July, and it certainly looks like Apple is planning something interesting (and less dependent on Google) for future Maps.app updates. Rumors say this new app will have navigation functionality.

iPhone developer Pandav informed MacRumors that they, thanks to the scripts of statistics included in their application, have managed to record tracks for a new iPhone model, not yet released.

PinchMedia, which offers a system of statistics and analysis on the use of software, has noticed the same thing and the new device is identified with the code iPhone3,1. The last iPhone released to the public was the iPhone 3GS which carries the identification string iPhone2,1. Apple similarly began testing the iPhone 3GS (iPhone2,1) back in October of 2008 about 8 months ahead of its launch.

The next generation iPhone might include a multi-core processor and Verizon compatibility. It might be released as early as mid 2010.

iH8Sn0w has posted another teaser trailer for Sn0wBreeze, a windows utility to build custom iPhone ipsw files.

Another Teaser... I have no idea why Teaser 2 was removed. Anyway. Like always, its not done yet! GUI is subject to change. Like the window sizes

Take a look below...

iPhone Explorer is a handy application for Mac and Windows. It allows users to use a USB connection and access all the system files. Users can create, delete and rename files and folders on iPhone or iPod Touch, or use the device as a flash drive. If you have a jailbroken device can gain access to the root directory. The functionality is somehow similar to iFunBox and iPhone Folder applications.

The application is completely free and you can download it from here.

MailRu Agent provides an ability to exchange instatnt messages between your friends, send free SMS to cell phones, share your photos and manage your Mail.Ru mailbox.

This app is avaliable for free via AppStore (link).

App Rejection is a new portal where the AppStore applications that are rejected by Apple are collected.

The site can be used by developers to understand all those unwritten rules that lead to rejection. In other words you can learn from the mistakes and adopt your app to make it to the AppStore. To access the site just click here.

Electronic Arts, one of the biggest game developer company, EA has discounted all their iPhone games for this holiday week/weekend. You can save a lot of money:

• Wolfenstein RPG ($2.99 -> $1.99), iTunes link
• Monopoly ($4.99 -> $2.99), iTunes link
• Surviving High School ($2.99 -> $1.99), iTunes link
• Auditorium ($2.99 -> $1.99), iTunes link
• Command & Conquer ($9.99 -> $6.99), iTunes link
• NBA Live ($9.99 -> $6.99), iTunes link
• Mystery Mania ($1.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• FIFA 10 ($9.99 -> $6.99), iTunes link
• Madden 10 ($9.99 -> $6.99), iTunes link
• Boggle ($2.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• The Sims ($6.99 -> $4.99), iTunes link
• Tiger Woods Golf ($4.99 -> $2.99), iTunes link
• SimCity ($4.99 -> $2.99), iTunes link
• Tetris ($4.99 -> $2.99), iTunes link
• Need For Speed Undercover ($4.99 -> $2.99), iTunes link

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gameloft is having their own sale today with a few of their games reduced to $0.99. We're not sure how long this is going to last, so if you've been thinking about picking any of these up it probably is a good idea to do it now.

Here is a list of apps available at $0.99 for the Thanksgiving/Black Friday Sale:

• Castle of Magic ($1.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• Real Tennis 2009 ($4.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• Blades of Fury ($4.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• Terminator Salvation ($4.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• Brothers in Arms – Hour of Heroes ($4.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link
• Shrek Kart ($4.99 -> $0.99), iTunes link

Happy Thanksgiving!

iPhone Folders is a Windows Explorer extension that allows you to browse contents of your iPhone or iPod Touch like a regular removable drive. After installation you'll find it in My Computer folder.

Using this extension you can browse your phone filesystem, copy files to and from it, open files directly from iPhone, create shortcuts to folders on iPhone. In thumbnail mode program will display previews of png and jpg files on phone, application icons for installed applications (.app folders).

Compatible with x86 editions of Windows XP, Vista, 7 and x64 editions of Windows XP and Vista. Requires iTunes 8 or 9 for normal operation. Supports jailbroken and non-jailbroken phones (in the later case filesystem access is limited to Media folder).

You can download iPhone Folders version 1.0.31 here.