Applications

Apple has rejected for inclusion in the App store and this time it isn’t something as silly as Pull My Finger. The rejected application this time has actual functionality and is called PodCaster. PodCaster, as the name implies, is a program designed to give you some more control over podcasts. And that is where the trouble started. Apple rejected PodCaster because:

...Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.

Except that Podcaster had more functionality than what Apple built in. See, with iTunes you have to plug your iPhone into the computer to load up your podcasts with Podcaster you can do it all over Wi-Fi. But wait there’s more. It isn’t as if you can’t already find scads of redundant Apps in the App store. Every calculator is redundant, every clock, every weather application and so on. Clearly redundancy hasn’t been a big sticking point before.

As you might imagine there is plenty of outrage to go around. Developers are vowing to stop developing, and pundits are seething. The most reasoned response… more...

Chris Howard points out that the App is forcing a change is app pricing. Chris opines that good apps for the Palms started at about $10 and up. But with the App store there are great for a lot less. It is interesting reading so check it out!

Why you’d want to use Microsoft Office on your iPhone is beyond me. But some people are forced to use office for clients and right now there isn’t great solution for these folks. That may be about change. QuickOffice promises to unleash all the goodness of MS Ofice on your iPhone. There are several problems to overcome with the iPhones filing system but QuickOffice includes an app just to handle the filing. REad all about QuickOffice in a post by Sascha Segan who went hands on with QuickOffice at Appscout.

You know you can do Flickr on your iPhone. And Twitter is always an option. MySpace is accessible anywhere as long as you’ve got your trusty lozenge o’ connectivity. And then there is the who weird YouTube implementation on the iPhone. I guess the problem is getting all those places together. In short, you want to socially network on your iPhone but you don’t want the hassle of visiting fifteen places just get that social mojo while you’re on the go-go.

Yahoo! to the rescue. With the click of a virtual button you’ll get the low down of all your social networks in one place. Yahoo! calls it OneConnect (not very original) and it promises to be a boon to those who live for the social network side of life. Right now it is iPhone only but soon you’ll be able to get it on other devices. Heck, I’d like it on my Mac. If I socially networked. Or had friends. Nevermind.
Read more here

Social tagging on the iPhone isn’t anything new but the ways to get the tags are becoming more inventive. In the newest version of social tagging the iPhone is turned into an on the go, hey what is around me device. The application will supposedly scrape information from the web, from others using the application and data generated by the company (Tonchidot). How will all this work?

If you walk through a mall, for example, Sekai Camera tags will show you where you can find something to eat, additional information about a certain product tagged before, or how many are calories in a chocolate bar.

Well, that is good to know. We’ll need an app like this until restaurant owners learn about the miracle of signage. Actually, the application seems pretty cool if it performs as promised. We’ll see.
via:Washington Post
Pics and more description available at Tonchidot

Taking the risk of turning iPhonematters into Digg (lists ahoy!) here’s yet another list of Best iPhone Apps. The twist this time? These are the best applications for techies. That means a terminal running on your iPhone, SSH, and other geeky bits most people not only don’t want on their iPhone they don’t even want to know these Apps exist. Most of the inclusions are pretty good but one wonders about the inclusion of Drinks. Drinks is a $3.99 application that is a catalogue of, well, drinks. Are techies a group of drunken lushes? And are they so stupid they don’t realize that they could use Google to search for drinks recipes? The mind is fully boggled.

James Stoup has an excellent piece up over at our sister site Apple Matters extolling the virtues of the App store. Heck, he likes it so much he’d like to see it as part of OS X. But it isn’t all blue skies and cotton tailed bunnies hopping through the meadows, James notes that Google’s android store is on the horizon and that it will likely provide some real competition for the App store.

Check it out!

Remember that quite successful app called PhoneSaber? It’s coming back, but with a new name - PhoneSaber Unleashed.

Many people were sad to see PhoneSaber get pulled from the App Store due to copyright claims by mobile Star Wars rights holder THQ Wireless, but THQ announced today that it will be coming back soon.

Now, I am not a big Star Wars fan, but the app was pretty fun. Unfortunately, I lost the app in a restore and that was after it was removed from the App Store. I was becoming a master Jedi too…

They will be re-launching PhoneSaber under the name PhoneSaber “Unleashed” and will coincide with the launch of the console game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Fortunately, THQ is still offering it for free, and it will include the real sound effects and music from the movies.

Not only am I getting the game for my desktop, but my little sidekick will also be getting Spore. The highly anticipated Spore Origins already found its way to the iPod a while back, and creator Will Wright says that it will be making it’s way to the App Store some time this week.

The game starts you off as a microbe, and as you grow and eat you evolve into a bigger creature that can eat even bigger creatures, and the cycle continues.

I am thinking it will not be as fully featured as the computer version, but we’ll see the limitations when the App is released.

TUAW got a hands-on look at the game on the iPod touch a while back, and their first impression of the game was less than outstanding. They noted that gameplay wasn’t very exciting and it has no relation to the full game, making it little more than a $5 arcade game.

However, I’m not condemning it until I get my hands on the software. I can imagine there is a different gameplay compared to the iPod and iPhone so we may see it on… more...

Rumor has it that Apple is getting ready to release a slick new iPhone app that will serve as an interactive album application, delivering lyrics, artwork, behind-the-music photos and other bonus content to supplement the lack of a physical CD.

Little about the alleged app is known, but it is suspected to offer a new interface for the digital booklets that some albums come with in iTunes.

However, this could be a publicity stunt seeing as how this is said to be launched the same time Snow Patrol’s new CD is released.

Time will tell…

Via: Music Week