Development

When I got word that update 1.1.3 had cell tower and Wi-Fi tracking, I was overjoyed. Finally a supported version of pseudo-GPS from Apple. My joy did not last long, because as of recently Navizon, the company that developed the first pseudo-GPS on the iPhone, has added some new services. Now Navizon allows for the positioning system to update every 10 seconds. If your on the road, you can get an up-to-date position instead of hitting the triangulate button multiple times. The service now includes a system bar which runs with the maps application. This allows for easy access to some of the new services. The 3rd party app also includes a buddy positioning system similar to that offered by Helio and Boost Mobile. By adding buddies Navizon users can have a knowledge of where their other Navizon using friends are. This of course can be turned off if someone wanted to drop of the grid. The app also runs in the background which allows for friends to find the user without him/her actively using Navizon.

Right now this is bad news for me. I love this application and… more...

Apple is Awesome! They have me under some sort of spell. They have perfect timing when it comes to the release of their products. They build up anticipation with Macworld, then “Boom!” As always, I am left drooling after the keynote. Apple introduced and talked about 4 of their products in the keynote, but let’s focus on the iPhone.

We’ve all seen it, at least most of us have. I am talking about the leaked firmware of course. How Gearlive got the firmware so many weeks early is beyond me. Even though the firmware did indeed look authentic, I was still skeptical. Apple does not like leaks, and I figured this was just another elaborate hoax. No, I was way off. Gearlive was dead on. The new firmware has these features: the ability to customize the home-screen, send SMS text massages to multiple people, and the ability to find the phone’s current location in the Maps application. Google Maps gets its triangulated location from both hot-spots and cell towers. This is especially helpful, as having both hot-spots and cell towers is sure to improve the accuracy of the system. Google maps also has… more...

When Installer first arrived on the scene, one of the most praised projects was a working version of Doom for the iPhone. The Application was far from done but such a monumental undertaking motivated developers to create games along with working emulators. The good news is Doom for the iPhone won’t be going the way of Duke Nukem Forever.

Stephen T recently took over development from Stepwhite and sent TUAW a video demonstrating the new control system implemented. While the games runs much smoother than previous builds and in Widescreen mode, using a finger to navigate may prove to be a hassle in a first person shooter, you might block out your aim and decrease response time.

Here’s hoping to a steady development because if it can’t run Doom, it ain’t worth buying…

Via: TUAW

Since the TomTom rumor was fake, I thought we were done with 3rd party GPS. To put this plainly, I was dead wrong. Apparently, the GPS idea seemed so perfect and obvious to a company, they decided to make an app with accompanying hardware. Partfoundry is the name of the company, and locoGPS is the product. It will allow jailbroken iPhones to finally have the needed GPS capability.  The module is currently confirmed to be in development, and will be shipping in February. The software is also open source; so many cool apps will be developed as well. It will be small enough to put on a keychain, and will be wrapped in a stylish plastic case. They are taking orders now, and it will run for $89.

Could this be the reason that I jailbreak my iPhone again? If Apple does not make their own GPS unit, Yes. Sorry Mr. Jobs, I really want GPS. The iPhone has such a beautiful screen, frankly, it was meant to have GPS.

[via Gizmodo and Partfoundry]

Similar to the cell tower based location tracing provided by the native app Navizon, Google has added an option called My Location. My Location is new software that is included with Google maps which works with non GPS phones. As most know the iPhone does not currently have GPS, so it fits into the category. As of right now this feature is only on the beta for the standard Mobile Google Maps. Unfortunately it is not yet on the iPhone, but I hope it will eventually be included in an update. I would love to see an integrated and reliable location finder that is authorized by Apple. As soon as the SDK appears we may have competition over these kinds of applications (Google vs. Navizon). When this occurs I will use the app that I know will be free, Google Maps. 3 cheers for simplicity, seamless integration, and free software!

This is not a native iPhone application. And it does not play music as, iRadio, the native app does. This web application shows the current song playing on major stations across the country. It has the same flip through menu that you are used to navigating through on your iPhone. When you click a radio station you can see the last 5 songs that the station played. Once you click a song you have the following options: you may email yourself the name of the artist and name of the song, get a link to the iTunes Wi-Fi music store page where you may purchase the song, listen to the song on Seeqpod, or read the song lyrics.

Advantages to this app are numerous, but here are a few. This app helps match names to unknown songs. It also helps you choose which station you would like to listen to based on the music choice, as well as avoid commercials.

Tell us how it worked if you decide to use it.

[via iphoneapplicationlist]

Most people who use Firefox are familiar with add-ons. Add-ons practically define the browser. You can customize and add features to Firefox with add-ons. There is but one add-on which I simply cannot live without. Stumble Upon, Stumble for short, takes you to random websites others have seen and enjoyed. Once you install the add-on all you have to do is hit the Stumble button and you are taken to a random page. Most of the pages in the roster are pretty cool, because you tell Stumble what you like and do not like. From then on Stumble matches you to pages that are categorized within subjects that you enjoy.

WARNING:

(The following does not even come close to being a joke)

I must warn you that this is the most addictive activity since well, nothing. The reason I say nothing is because this activity takes up so much of my time and I have never been so dependent on one thing. Once you start, expect to spend all of your free time, and most of your work time, randomly browsing the net. There is no end to stumbling. You may even give yourself… more...

If you have been keeping up with your sources lately, you may have noticed Conceited Software released an app called iRadio. This was an interesting idea: being able to stream web radio onto the iPhone. It worked well with Wi-Fi, but if needed could be used on EDGE. The only problem was that it was a little buggy and was lacking in features. This was mainly due to the fact that it was just the first and experimental version.

I am proud to announce that iRadio has seen a major update! This update takes the app out of experimental and makes it usable and enjoyable. You may now select from over hundreds of genres and thousands of stations to tune into. Most of these genres I have never heard of, some of them I would have never imagined existed. Zouk, Wusf, Kompa, and Karisik are some of the many genres that you may choose from. The music quality is great for most of the stations. I am amazed at the potential in this app, as well as the functionality it has already gained.

For those of you who use it, what do you think… more...

Apple knows how to make people want. They keep the excitement up by releasing very good features very slowly. It seems that aside from a few minor improvements here and there, and the occasional new app, all Apple has been doing with their iPhone firmware updates is stopping hackers. I am getting concerned that this is the only thinking that goes on at Cupertino today, how to stop the next group of hackers. I think that Apple may be putting too much effort into keeping the device closed, and not enough into developing and improving features for it. This would be tolerable if the iPhone did not have so many annoyances; annoyances such as not being able to delete email faster, or not being able to receive MMS and send out multiple messages. All of these need a fix.  All I am asking for are simple fixes at a faster rate, no miracles. Apple can release its new features slowly as they wish, but I wish they would fix the problems faster.

Aside from simple fixes, what features (supported by Apple) would you like on your iPhone? Do you agree with me? Whatever your opinion, please voice it in… more...

We have had the NES app for a while now, so why not bring true mobile gaming to the mobile iPhone? Now there is another emulator available for the iPhone, and this one features the ability to run ROMs of almost any game you can find on the Game Boy Advance. GpSPhone is the name of this first GBA emulator.

The emulator has just received an update. This update fixes many bugs including those having to do with compatibility. The new update, 0.0.5, looks like nothing major, but truly is a big step towards better emulation on the iPhone. Hopefully, after this update, more will be running GpSPhone on their iPhone.

Don’t let the version 0.0.5 fool you, this is a large update. Thanks to a large amount of help from NerveGas (NES.app author), we now have a much improved GUI and sound!
Also some performance fixes were implemented via the default frameskip settings and some dynarec tweaks.

There are still some problems, but I have optimism that these problems will soon be addressed.

[gpSPhone via Gizmodo]