reviews

I love applications that take advantage of Apple’s push notification feature. I am constantly receiving notices on my iPhone that remind me of everything. One of the applications is called NotifyMe.

NotifyMe is a simple application that uses Apple’s push notification service to notify you of reminders set within the app. Reminders can be set for any time and assigned a category. You can also have reminders recur daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, and yearly.

What I love about NotifyMe is the fact that is has a very simple, well designed interface that lets you quickly get to setting a reminder.

From the main screen you can add a reminder and see upcoming, passed, and recent reminders. It is very simple.

Most of my reminders came in right on the specified time. Unlike many of the reminder sounds from some of the applications I’ve tested, NotifyMe is rather loud and although annoying, it is also a good thing to keep me in check. I just wish you could choose from different notification tones.

I really like how the app is customizable as well. You can set the app… more...

TomTom is one of the worlds largest GPS hardware and software maker, so it makes since that a lot of people were anxiously awaiting the TomTom GPS app for the iPhone.

I managed to get my hands on this iPhone app and I absolutely love it!

The app only works on the iPhone 3G and 3GS and require the 3.0 iPhone firmware. This application features landscape views, 3D and 2D views, night and day views, and a plethora of points of interests.

Since the app does not use an internet connection to collect maps, the application installs all data onto your iPhone at a whopping 1.25GBs of US and Canada maps so make sure you have plenty of space.

Since it is so large, the download and install process is rather long, but once installed, I simply launched the app and was welcome with a list of options. The app is surprisingly fast and smooth considering the level of detail. The connection was also pretty fast and I was connect in less than 7 seconds.

You can tap routes and draw your own waypoints, and also find restaurants, call to… more...

ISmashPhone has a comprehensive article up about iPhone Video. It covers what kind of formats the iPhone will read and produce and an explanation for how this came to be; also included is a mini-glossary of key video terms, and a graphic list of video converting tools such as Handbrake, iSquint, and Videora, ConvertTube, and MPEG streamclip. The article also gives links for how to record TV shows and convert them to various file formats, and links for how to convert home videos (recorded on your own camcorder.) Want to find ways to get free video and figure out which video apps you can’t live without on your phone? This article can help.

iVoiceDialIt

Rating:
MMM1/2

The developers of iVoiceDialIt claim they are better than the others and after using this app for a week, I can almost say they are right. I say “almost” because I haven’t used every single voice app in the app store. Essentially, this app allows you to voice dial a contact fast without having to look or interact with the touch screen of the iPhone.

I must say, this is one of the easiest apps I used. There are only 3 steps:

1) Tap on iVoiceDialIt icon
2) Shake the iPhone once and place to your ear
3) Say the Contact Name after the beep

Easy, eh?

Now when you first start this app, it’ll train your voice. The process is fairly quick and only took a minute, if not a little less. Then, I started the app and quickly started naming off a few of my contacts in a normals voice. 9 out of 10 times the app got the names correct. When I tried with a little bit of background noise, I was amazed to get similar great results as the application learns to drop the background noise.

Simplenote

Rating:
MMMM - Matters

I’ve been working with Simplenote and I like it. Simple not is exactly how it sounds - Simple! You write simple notes, and they are saved to the application automatically. The awesome function of this application is the online synchronization, which allows you to log in and input notes yourself online or simply view the notes you have.

Creating new notes is a breeze with the plus button, and making a new account with Simplenote is super simple. Every time you open the application it synchronizes with the online database, making it fast and convenient to use.

And something that many users will like is that fact that you can use this application in landscape mode. Turn your iPhone and type away. Simple as that!

I’ve kind of been on a note application kick, and one I’ll use often is this one. The fact that it syncs online is wonderful. If you are looking for a simple application that has some simple great features, then you should get it. Simple as that!

Price:
$1.99

Pros:
Sync online
Simple
Automatically saves

Second time lucky! As I started to say the other day, I popped EA’s iPhone version of Monopoly in my pocket before I went on holidays.

The game is great, my experience of trying to write a review, not so great, and probably almost deserves it’s own article. Suffice to say, I tried to write the review using my iPhone but that really highlighted the absence of copy & paste as it meant I couldn’t write offline. And when I tired writing online, Safari didn’t seem entirely compatible with iPhone Matters’ blog engine, losing both changes to the article, and comments when I tried to explain what happened. As such, I decided, for sanity, to complete this article on my return to the civilized world of desktop Macs. So in reality, this is about my fifth attempt to write this piece.

Monopoly for the iPhone is based on the “Here and Now: The World Edition” edition. Therefore locations and events are modern as is the money. According to the Hasbro website the “World Edition” is “the first ever global MONOPOLY featuring the greatest cities from around the… more...

Smart Dial

Rating:
MMMM

Chris Howard recently wrote about an app that he missed in the app store, and today, I am going to tell you about an App I missed in the app store myself. Smart Dial is a very simple application. Simply put, Smart Dial lets you call someone quickly by spelling their name on a numeric keypad.

When you open the app, you’re presented with a standard phone keyboard. The UI is very well thought out and very easy to use. To dial a number, simply spell out the person’s first or last name by tapping the numbers which spell out the person’s name in order. No need to tap multiple times for specific spellings, just type out two to three numbers and the app will figure it out.

So, what if the name has the same combination of letters? If the app finds more than one person with the same combo of letters, tapping the triangle will scroll through the names until you find the correct number. The preference for showing mobile numbers is set by default, but you can change this.

If you would like to get full info on a contact, find them… more...

I have a new best friend. His name is iChalky. I know I’m probably the last person in the world to meet him, and thus his awesomeness is not new to any of you. But he’s so cool, he deserves to be spoken of again and again.

iChalky is one of many physics-using apps on the App Store. And yeah that’s cool, you tip him around the screen and he struggles to stand up. You can grab him and drag him, and that’s okay too. If that’s all he did, the novelty would wear off quickly. But wait, there’s more…

iChalky can dance! And, mate, he’s a much better dancer than me (which isn’t hard of course - though I think that dangley arm move and that rubbery legs one he got after seeing me dancing after a thimble of anything remotely alcoholic.)

I could explain all the technicalities of the physics involved in making him move, but that’d just hurt both of us. So lets just put it down to magic.

You can also replace his face with one from your photo album, which is really neat, coz now it looks like I can dance.

And something else… more...

You’ll have to put with some rambling about how many gadget’s Mr. Fry rolls around with (lots) and a bit about a long love affair with smartphones but after you get through that you’ll find reviews of the iPhone and the machines most obvious rivals. You’ll get a rating for the Bold (4/5) the Storm (1/5) and Android (3.5/5). For a bonus you get a list of the iPhone’s strengths and shortcomings.

The review is particularly interesting because it is coming from someone who actually uses all of the devices he rates. We’re not talking “I tried it out for a few hours” we’re talking “I use them enough I take them with me when I travel.” You’ll come away with a much better understanding of the complete state of the smartphone mini war that is going on right now.

Jaadu VNC

Rating:
MMMM 1/2 - Matters!

I spent one week with an app I’m still not sure I am pronouncing correctly, however I can pronounce “great” which is exactly what this app is. I once promised myself that I wouldn’t spend more than $10 on an app, however, temptation got the best of me.

Jaadu VNC is an application that lets you remotely control any Mac or PC running a VNC server. In addition to having control over the keyboard and mouse, you can actually see the the remote computer’s screen for total control from wherever you are.

After opening the application, Jaadu automatically detects any Mac on the local network running a VNC server using Bonjour. If your computer isn’t automatically detected, you can add it manually if you know its IP address. Once you connect, you’re “teleported” to your desktop where you have total control over everything, as if you were sitting at your computer. I was blown away by this.

Since the whole desktop is visible on your iPhone, things are a little small of course. Just like zooming in and out of… more...