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RealNetworks to defend itself in court on April 24th

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:49:47 +0000

RealNetworks will get a chance to defend the legality of its RealDVD DVD ripping software on April 24th in court, launched back in September, sales of which were later banned by a federal judge and the ban extended after the software maker was sued by movie studios. The trial will take place in a US District Court in San Francisco, RealNetworks Chairman and CEO Rob Glaser said in a Friday TWICE report.

RealDVD cost nearly $30 and allowed users to copy movie DVDs to a computer’s hard drive for playback. There is an option to register up to four more PCs for playback, with each additional registration priced at $20. In its lawsuit, the movie industry is arguing that RealDVD violates the Digital Millenium Copyright Act as users can rent or borrow movies and then rip them, resulting in a loss of revenue for the studios. The studios are seeking damages and a permanent injunction of sales of the software.

Glaser said RealDVD protects rights holders, adding consumers “have the right to make a secure copy” that will make it impossible to be shared on a P2P network.

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Google rumored in deep talks regarding Twitter buy

admin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:39:53 +0000

Google is deep into talks for the purchase of microblogging network Twitter, according to two unnamed sources said to be close to the negotiations and cited by TechCrunch on Thursday. Since then however, AllThingsDigital has suggested that the two parties are simply engaged in “some product-related discussions” regarding collaboration on a real-time Google search engine. “There was a discussion with [Google] group about real-time search and about product stuff. It was a couple weeks ago. It was very preliminary…and that was that,” says an unnamed source from Twitter, quoted by ATD.

Twitter allows users to post 140-character messages reflecting their thoughts, which can be followed by friends, colleagues and strangers. Companies have also begun using Twitter accounts, and as such integrating search into Twitter could further boost the popularity of the site. Integrating a search browser into Twitter would also be in line with Google’s recent, gradual attempts to incorporate blogs as well as news stories into its search results.

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StatCounter: Firefox overtakes IE 7 in Europe

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:12:38 +0000

Firefox 3 has overtaken Internet Explorer 7 in Europe according to data from StatCounter. Although IE still leads when counting all versions (IE 8IE7/IE6), the current Mozilla-based Firefox usage has surpassed IE 7 by a percentage point. Ars Technica has reported that IE 8, released two weeks ago, has pulled over two percent of IE 7 users from its ranks, dropping it beneath Firefox.

When considering all versions of each browser, Internet Explorer still leads the field, with a 48-percent market share, to Firefox’s 38 percent. Opera is far back at 7 percent, while Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome are at less than three percent in the latest European figures.

Worldwide numbers have IE at 62 percent, Firefox at 29 percent, with Opera, Chrome, and Safari all below 3 percent. The statistics for North America are similar to the global scores, but Safari is stronger, at 5 percent and Opera struggles for a foothold at less than 1 percent.
StatCounter’s European mobile browser numbers show a different trend. Opera and the iPhone browser are tied currently at 22 percent. Nokia’s browser, at 18 percent, hits third place, with the iPod touch close at 15 percent and Android far back at about 2 percent. The iPhone and iPod touch take center-stage in North America, with a commanding lead, while Opera is almost non-existent. Asian markets show a reverse, with Opera well ahead of the iPhone by a 45-5 margin.

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QuickPlay Media Launches PrimeTime2Go Premium Mobile TV Service

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:52:40 +0000

People who want to use their Blackberry Smartphones to watch full episodes of popular TV programs from leading networks can be able to do so with the launch of PrimeTime2Go premium mobile TV service.

The monthly subscription fee-based service will be available in early May via the BlackBerry App World storefront, and will enable consumers to download and watch full-length episodes of their favorite shows on-demand including NBC’s “The Office,” CBS’s “CSI,” MTV’s “The Hills,” a part of MTV Networks, and The CW’s “90210” anytime, anywhere.

QuickPlay will offer PrimeTime2Go in the US on the BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphones, which are currently available to AT&T and T-Mobile customers. The service will allow customers to easily browse extensive catalogs of content and download selected programs to their smartphone in the background, thereby allowing them to use other services while shows are loading.

Following the download, subscribers will be able to watch their selected program on their schedule until the pre-determined viewing period expires. All selected content will be delivered over Wi-Fi which provides cost savings, since it will not impact the user’s data usage.

For added convenience, subscribers will have the ability to watch the TV shows offline. PrimeTime2Go will also provide capabilities that allow consumers to pause a program, exit the application and then resume viewing from where they left off upon re-entering the service.

PrimeTime2Go will be available in early May, as a $7.99 monthly subscription. To access the service, subscribers will need to visit BlackBerry App World storefront on their compatible smartphones, browse to the “Music and Video” category, select PrimeTime2Go, and then follow the instructions to download and install the application.

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Buzzwire Keeps You Up to Date with American Idol News

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 03:22:11 +0000

One TV show that is followed by a lot of people is American Idol. And while most people cannot constantly follow this show, worry no more as your iPhone can keep you up to date with the latest happenings.

Fans leverage the Web to vote for their favorite contestants, and instantly keep up on the best and worst performances, get the inside scoop on the favorites, and all the behind-the-scenes gossip. Now, Buzzwire, Inc. is making things easier than ever for fans by giving them the quickest news and gossip on their mobile phone, wherever they are.

Buzzwire is the first editorially directed, community-driven mobile site featuring the best of the mobile Web. Anyone with a mobile device and a web browser can now go to m.buzzwire.com to quickly and easily access all the latest results, news and gossip on American Idol and Dancing with the Stars in one convenient place.

With mobile quickly becoming the preferred means for Internet browsing, m.buzzwire.com lets mobile users easily discover, experience, and share the most popular content on the mobile web. The Buzzwire “Song & Dance” mobile portal features all the latest on both shows and give fans anytime, anywhere access to the best related stories, gossip, blogs and more — all from their mobile phones.

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Nimbuzz iPhone App Released

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:01:00 +0000

If you are looking for the most reliable iPhone app in the market today that carries the most comprehensive VoIP application for the iPhone, the Nimbuzz iPhone app is your best bet.

With free Wifi calls to instant messaging buddies already available, new additions include the introduction of a dial-pad and the ability to make VoIP calls to landlines and mobiles via Skype-Out, and Nimbuzz’s major SIP provider partners including Gizmo5, Vyke, and SIPgate over Wifi – effectively turning the iPod touch into an iPhone.

iPhone users without Wifi connection can make VoIP calls using Nimbuzz Dial-Up VoIP in over 50 countries.

Nimbuzz bridges the iPhone VoIP gap by allowing VoIP calls over 3G via its Dial-Up VoIP option in over 50 countries. It allows iPhone users to call (international) mobile and landlines at significantly reduced costs, by dialing a local access number that connects to anywhere in the world via Nimbuzz VoIP servers.

Another feature allows Twitter updates via the Personal Message option. Popular communities, including Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, AIM, and social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are already supported with call and chat options.

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Google StreetView debuts in UK and Netherlands

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:35:13 +0000

If you are a resident of major cities in the UK including London, Bristol, Birmingham, and Sheffield, and use Google Maps like your driving life depends on it, Google has made your life a tad more easier. The popular StreetView feature has now been implemented in most major cities across the UK and Netherlands and if you are using a version older than 2.3, you better update to the latest Google Maps 3.0 to get going.

Head over to m.google.com on your cell phone and get it now.

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Google Has New Image Search Results for Android and iPhone

admin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:52:49 +0000

Google has introduced a new Image Search results page for both the iPhone and the Android platform. If you live in the U.S. UK or Japan, your Image Searches will be significantly improved. Now you can scan up to 20 images on a single page and you’ll get detailed info with every image. And now images can be filtered by style: faces, clip art, photo content just like on the desktop version. Ready to test it out? Remember to go to the USA, UK and Japan. And iPod touch users relax, the new Google Image Search is available for the the touch too.

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Nokia 5800 MSN Messenger – Free Download

admin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:20:38 +0000

For the people who love to use the MSN Messenger, you can download a version of the said app for use on your Nokia 5800. Though it may be in Chinese version, you can change the language to English.

So now you don’t have to worry about leaving your buddies online. You can communicate with them wherever you go thanks to the app designed for the Nokia 5800.

You can download the application here.

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Point-I to develop detachable GPS recievers for cell phones

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:22:36 +0000

For those still in love with their old handsets that ain’t got the much-touted GPS feature, you better watch Point-I’s labors closely. The Korean company is supposedly working on something called “TocToc” GPS, an add-on that would provide the same kind of functionality offered by onboard GPS receivers with map support to boot, as evidenced by the picture above. There is no information if this requires a smartphone to work on or will work on any kind of operating system.

Whether this will be a Korea-only affair or if the whole world stands to benefit is still unknown at this time, but we will as always keep you posted if something comes up.

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Stolen Windows Mobile 6.5 Phone Gets Wiped Out Over the Air

admin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:05:49 +0000

An HTC phone belonging to a Telstra exec disappeared during last week’s MWC. Everyone that knew about it, is probably waiting for hot stuff to come out of it. At least some hot hands-on Windows Mobile 6.5 videos. Well that will never happen as the phone has been wiped out already, over the air. Microsoft personally took care of that. It wiped all traces of the operating system and user data from the mobile as soon as it has been reported stolen. It’s good to know one will be able to protect private data with that new Microsoft mobile OS. But how do you feel knowing that Microsoft can erase stuff from your phone? Hopefully that kind of technology will never fall in the wrong hands.

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MapQuest Launches My Places on MapQuest 4 Mobile Downloadable Application

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 04:28:04 +0000

MapQuest announced the addition of My Places to MapQuest 4 Mobile, MapQuest’s free, downloadable application. My Places lets registered MapQuest users save maps and routes to their profile from the MapQuest site and access them via MapQuest.com or their mobile phone. My Places on MapQuest 4 Mobile is currently available on select BlackBerry smartphones, with additional handsets and major mobile platforms coming in the months ahead.

With My Places, users can set up an account at MapQuest.com and view their saved locations using MapQuest 4 Mobile. Expansion of the service to the MapQuest 4 Mobile application lets users seamlessly extend their MapQuest experience from the desktop to the handset.

To download the free MapQuest 4 Mobile application with the new My Places integration, go to m.mq4m.com on your mobile device. Existing MapQuest 4 Mobile users will be prompted to upgrade to the latest version of the application, which includes My Places, when they launch the application.

For more information about My Places, please go to http://www.mapquest.com/myplaces.

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Google Maps on Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm Now Uses GPS for My Location

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:57:14 +0000

Google today announced that Google Maps on Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm now uses GPS for My Location. Owners of the BlackBerry Storm can download a brand new version of Google Maps for mobile that utilizes the Storm’s internal GPS.

Go to m.google.com/maps from your BlackBerry’s browser to download the latest version of Google Maps to your device. After you install the new version on your Storm, you will notice improved accuracy for My Location and Latitude.

The Storm is the first BlackBerry on Verizon’s network that makes it possible for My Location to access GPS location.

Sorry, owners of the BlackBerry on Verizon, even one with GPS like the BlackBerry 8130, this announcement is not for you.

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Google Mobile App Now Available on Phones Powered by Windows Mobile

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:51:51 +0000

Good news! Google Mobile App now available on phones powered by Windows Mobile. Now you can download it at http://m.google.com/search on your mobile phone. (See video to the right)

Google Mobile App for Windows Mobile features:

Allows faster searching Windows Mobile device
Easy access to your favorite Google applications from the Today screen
No need to wait for a browser to open to begin a search
Search history to reduce typing
Get Search results with fewer clicks than before
Pocket PC users can add the Google Mobile App to the start menu (Settings: Menus)
Pocket PC users can configure a hardware key (Settings: Buttons) to provide easy access from within any application on your phone

Google Mobile App is available for all devices powered by Windows Mobile in the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. (Check your phone model HERE to see if your phone is running Windows Mobile.) Google Mobile App is also available for iPhone, iPod touch and BlackBerry devices.

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Skype and Nokia to Integrate Skype into Nokia Devices

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:05:40 +0000

Skype and Nokia today announced a partnership that will bring the world’s leading Internet communications experience to the Nokia range of mobile computers. Under the terms of the cooperation, Skype will be integrated into Nokia devices, starting with the Nokia Nseries. The Nokia N97 flagship device will be the first to incorporate the Skype experience in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

The Skype experience will be part of the address book of the Nokia N97, enabling presence – seeing when Skype contacts are online – as well as instant messaging. Nokia N97 owners around the world will also be able to use 3G and WLAN to easily make and receive free Skype-to-Skype voice calls, in addition to low-cost Skype calls to landlines and mobile devices.

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FIve Android Apps That Won’t Make it to the iPhone

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:06:58 +0000

Since first launching the iTunes App Store, Apple has been notoriously stringent in terms of its app approval process, pulling programs out for all manner of reasons. While Google has also asserted some authority regarding which apps can be sold in the Android Market, its vetting process is relatively relaxed. This goes a ways toward explaining why one can now find about a dozen different programs for the mobile OS that recreate fart sounds.

The Android Market is still relatively fresh (paid apps were allowed in only earlier this month), so it doesn’t have nearly as many apps to contend with as Apple does Also, each app description has a Flag as Inappropriate button at the bottom, assuring that the Market isn’t quite the wild, wild west for mobile developers. Still, there seem to be a fair number of apps that likely would not have made it through the Apple vetting process. We round up a few of the more notable ones, after the jump.

MobiDuck (free) MobiDuck isn’t the only “vibrator” Android app, but it does seem to be the only one dedicated to waterfowl. “Looking for a gift for your girlfriend or yourself?!” asks the app’s developer. “This vibrating duck is just what you need for a little discreet massage.” We’ll spare you the rest of the details.

Tether Wi-Fi: Price ($8.95) Remember the fate of that iPhone tethering app? This one is currently rated four out of five stars based on 22 users’ experiences–here’s hoping it doesn’t meet a similar fate.

Do Not Buy Me (99 cents) Consider this the recession version of the iPhone “I am Rich” app, complete with a glowing red jewel. Given its name and the simple description, “Do not buy this app,” we’re guessing it wouldn’t last long under Apple’s watch.

Just a Stupid Test App (99 cents) Again, a good name is everything–and that author blurb, “Just a stupid test app, you probably don’t want to buy it,” isn’t doing said author any favors.

Naughty Dice (99 cents) I’m guessing that the company that wouldn’t allow the words “boobs” and “booty” in its App Store probably wouldn’t take kindly to this game, which “reveal[s] you and your partner’s next adventure.”

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Concept: iTunes-based Solution to Manage iPhone Apps

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:43:46 +0000

Are you struggling to manage the growing number of iPhone apps that you have downloaded from the App Store? Do you find it painful to re-arrange the iPhone apps across multiple home screens and keep them organized?

If the answer is yes, then you will appreciate the iTunes-based solution to manage iPhone apps proposed by an iPhone user who calls himself svdomer09.

He has published an impressive concept video to show how it should work.

Apple introduced the feature of allowing upto 9 customized home screens and support for pagination in iPhone firmware 1.1.3 in Jan 2008.

However with the launch of the App Store in July 2008, it has become difficult to manage the growing number of iPhone apps on iPhone’s home screen. It is also a tedious task to keep re-arranging the iPhone apps.

We have seen some good iPhone apps such as QuickGold which gives you a quick way to search and launch iPhone apps and Categories app which helps you organize apps on your iPhone’s home screen by allowing you to create categories in the form of folders so that you can move the iPhone apps into them to reduce the clutter. However, both these iPhone apps are only available for the jailbroken iPhone.

We had also published an easier method to rearrange iPhone apps across multiple home screens.

But the iTunes-based system to manage iPhone apps proposed by svdomer09 is quiet neat.

You can checkout the concept video of the iTunes-based app management system:

So do you think this is the solution?

In my opinion, it doesn’t solve the problem completely as paging through upto 9 home screens to launch an iPhone app is not very efficient.

The proposed iTunes-based app management system is definitely a much easier way to arrange iPhone apps on the first and maybe the second home-screen as it will be a lot easier to sort the iPhone apps on the computer rather than the iPhone (congratulations to svdomer09 for creating such a cool concept) but I would still prefer to use quick launcher apps such as QuickGold to launch an app.

Let’s hope Apple Engineers take notice of this concept and release a much better app management solution for the iPhone in future firmware updates.

What do you think about the iTunes-based solution to manage iPhone apps? Do you think its the solution to the problem? How do manage the growing number of iPhone apps on the home screen? Please drop us a line in the comments section below to give us your thoughts on how to solve this problem.

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BeejiveIM is Pricey But an Awesome Instant Messaging iPhone App

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:36:52 +0000

BeejiveIM (pronounced bee-hive) is a feature rich instant messaging native client for the iPhone that keeps you connected with IM buddies on MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo, AIM/MobileMe, Google Talk, Jabber and MySpace while you’re on-the-go.

When I first saw the $15.99 price tag of BeejiveIM, I felt it was expensive especially since I have been spoilt by free instant messengers on the computer.

But I decided to check it out as I had liked the web version of BeejiveIM.

BeejiveIM works with multiple IM networks such as AIM/iChat/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, MySpace, GoogleTalk, ICQ, & Jabber. With limited resources on mobile phones (and the limitation of not being able to run apps in the background in case of the iPhone), the ability to connect to multiple IM networks is very useful. Its more practical to run a single app rather than running multiple IM apps on a mobile phone. There are other IM clients for the iPhone that also provide this functionality.

You need to first register all your IM accounts. After logging in to each of your IM accounts, BeejiveIM will show you the list of buddies across all your IM networks. You can change your online status as available, away, busy or invisible for each of your IM accounts or across all your IM accounts.

Tapping on any of your buddies from the buddy list brings up the chat window. The interface is very similar to iPhone’s SMS application which shows message bubbles as you chat with your friend.

You can also insert emoticons by tapping on the smiley face button that is available when you start typing a message. When you tap on the smiley face button, the emoticon picker replaces the keyboard. You can select the emoticons to insert it in the chat message.

BeejiveIM provides full Unicode support which means you can chat in any language. You can also chat in landscape mode and allows you to send chat history via email.

One of the coolest features of BeejiveIM is the way they have implemented the feature to switch between chat windows. You have multiple options to switch chat windows:

To switch to another chat window, all you need to do is tap at the center of the status bar (with your buddy’s name), this will display a bar with the list of active chat windows. You can then select one of them to switch to that chat window.

Double tap the chat screen to go back to the list of active chat windows.

Shake the phone if you have Shake To Switch Chats setting enabled. You can enable Shake To Switch Chats by launching the Settings app and then going to BeejiveIM -> Enable Shake. You can also set the level of sensitivity for the Shake to Switch chat feature.

BeejiveIM has lots of other tricks up its sleeve such as the ability to send voice notes and photos. You can also send SMS messages to your friends by using your Yahoo (some international numbers, see http://messenger.yahoo.com/features/sms) and AIM accounts (to US numbers).

BeejiveIM offers tons of customization via the Settings app such as:

You can configure how the buddy list should be sorted. You can hide buddies who are offline.

You can also turn on or turn off auto-correct, auto-capitalization, allow or disable landscape mode and emoticons.

You can also enable or disable Notification and alerts such as when a message is sent, message is received and Turn off or turn on vibration mode when you receive a message.

BeejiveIM also offers various options to customize the user interface such as the buddy list layout, chat background, incoming bubble color, outgoing bubble color etc.

I am not sure if it has anything to do with some limitation in iPhone’s SDK but it would have been more convenient to be able to change the settings from within BeejiveIM rather than using the Settings app.

As you might already know, due to the limitation of iPhone’s SDK it is not possible to run iPhone apps in the background which affects the user experience of instant messenger apps such as BeejiveIM.

BeejiveIM is offering a feature called “Push Email Alert” as a workaround. “Push Email Alert” is not enabled by default but you can turn it on via the Settings app. Once the service is enabled, Beejive will monitor any incoming chat messages, even when BeejiveIM is closed due to disconnection or a phone call. When you receive a message, Beejive will send you an email with the message and a link. Clicking on the link will open up BeejiveIM so that you continue with the conversation. This is not the perfect solution but at least it’s a workaround until Apple allows third party applications to run in background.

One of the things I am always worried about using iPhone apps where I need to enter my email account details; is security. Folks at Beejive have clarified that all account information (usernames & passwords) are stored locally on the iPhone and not kept on our servers.

BeejiveIM is pricey but it is an awesome instant messaging client for the iPhone. It is one of the most polished iPhone apps that I have used. If you are an IM addict then it is definitely worth the high price.

These are still initial impressions as I have recently started using it, I will keep updating this post in case I find an issue or if I find something good about the iPhone app that I have mentioned earlier or based on feedback from you folks.

You can also checkout the web version of BeejiveIM for the iPhone which is free by pointing your iPhone’s Safari browse to http://iphone.beejive.com to get an idea but it is important to note that there are many features mentioned here that aren’t available in the iPhone web app.

You can download BeejiveIM using this direct iTunes link.

What do you think about BeejiveIM? Are you willing to pay $15.99 for it? If you have used it before, do you think it was worth it? We would love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

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Jailbreak App: 5-Row QWERTY Keyboard Adds Another Row of Keys and New Keys like Tab to iPhone’s Virtual Keyboard

admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:06:10 +0000

iPhone Developer, KennyTM has released another jailbreak app on Cydia for jailbroken iPhone users which adds another row (a 5th row) to iPhone’s virtual keyboard.

The jailbreak app is aptly called 5-Row QWERTY Keyboard.

KennyTM is the developer of one of our favorite jailbreak app hClipboard, which in our opinion is the best “Copy and Paste” solution for the iPhone.

KennyTM’s 5-Row QWERTY Keyboard adds another row of keys to iPhone’s virtual keyboard.

As you can see from the screenshot below, it adds a row of numbers to iPhone’s Qwerty keyboard like you have on the computer keyboard.

Tapping on the arrow button in the second row (which is used to turn caps lock on) gives you access to the symbols (such as !, @ etc) which are again arranged in the same order as those on the computer keyboard.

As manteka, one of our readers pointed out (thanks manteka), the app also adds new keys that are not available on iPhone’s original keyboard such as:

←, ↑, →, ↓: Directional keys. Move the cursor left, up, right and downwards. Hold the key to move repeatedly.

⇥: Tab. Inserts a tab (\t) character.

⎋: Escape. Causes the current input field to lose the focus, and usually hides the keyboard as a result.

⌦: Forward delete, otherwise known as Delete. Remove the character immediately after the cursor. Hold the key to keep deleting.

↖, ↘: Home, End. Move the cursor to the beginning or end of text field.

⇞, ⇟: Page up, Page down. Move the cursor one page up or down.

You can access the new keys mentioned above by tapping on the 123 button and then tapping on the arrow button.

After you have installed 5-Row QWERTY Keyboard on your jailbroken iPhone using Cydia. You can enable the 5th row by going to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International Keyboards and swiping your finger to turn On 5 Row QWERTY keyboard (I observed that it was enabled by default).

Once it is enabled, you can switch to the 5 Row Qwerty keyboard by tapping on the Globe button.

This is a cool hack but the keys are adjusted to fit the additional row in the available space so the keys are quite cramped if you compare the spacing available in the original keyboard. So it might not be convenient for folks with thick fingers.

What do you think about 5-Row QWERTY Keyboard? Please let us know in the comments.

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iPhone Trick: Quick and Easy Way to Turn Off Auto-Correct Feature

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:57:23 +0000

I really like the auto-correct feature of the iPhone. In my opinion it wouldn’t have been convenient to use iPhone’s revolutionary virtual keyboard if it wasn’t for the auto-correct feature.

But there are times when you are tying a lot of slang or text in another language; you don’t want the auto-correct feature to kick in.

Folks at Lifehacker have published a quick and easy trick to turn off the auto-correct feature while you are typing.

Apple provided users with the ability to turn on/off the auto-correct feature in Keyboard settings (Settings->General->Keyboard) in iPhone firmware 2.2.

I like the auto-correct feature when I am writing an email but prefer it to be off when I am on Instant messenger as I end up using a lot of slang words while chatting.

But turning on or turning off the auto-correct feature each time using iPhone’s Settings app is quite time consuming (so end up keeping it turned on all the time).

So the tip by the Lifehacker reader is quite useful as you can use it anytime.

“A bilingual reader of our Aussie cousin, Lifehacker Australia, found that by typing out a “z,” then touching and dragging to back up the cursor behind it, he could write as far outside the constraints of his native land’s language as he wanted. Typing behind the Z leaves auto-correct unable to guess what word you could possibly be forming—”Restaurantz?” it asks, with a resigned shrug—so it leaves you alone. Works on any iPhone/touch app that features spelling correction, actually.”

Actually this trick works with any letter/word and isn’t specific to the letter “z” . If you move the cursor directly behind any letter/word then you should be able to type without the auto-correct feature correcting you.

As always let us know how it goes in the comments and if you found this iPhone trick useful.

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Google Demos Offline Gmail for the iPhone

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:25:40 +0000

You might already know that Gmail Labs had recently released the Offline Gmail feature which gives users access to their most recent emails even when there is no internet connection.

Google demonstrated this Offline Gmail feature on the iPhone 3G at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

If you are a Gmail user and prefer to use the web-based Gmail’s iPhone web app on your iPhone then you will be impressed.

Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering at Google, demonstrated the Offline Gmail feature on an iPhone 3G at the Mobile World Congress that will give users access to their most recent emails even when there is no data connection.

Gundotra described the iPhone web app as a “technical concept” which relies on the latest HTML 5’s AppCache and Database standards.

As you can see from the demo, the iPhone web app using HTML 5 standards will not only allow users to access their mail offline, it also seems to be a lot faster.

Google hasn’t mentioned when they plan to release the Gmail web app using HTML 5 for the iPhone.

One of the reasons for moving to Gmail ages back and never looking back is the “conversation view” similar to an Internet forum. Unfortunately if you use iPhone’s Mail app then this feature is not available. So I would personally still like to see Google release a native iPhone app for Gmail with “conversation view” and new email notification that works.

But the demo of the iPhone web app using HTML5 standards was very impressive and we can expect Google to release Google Reader using these latest standards.

Please feel free to drop us a line in the comments section to tell us what you think.

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iPhone App Update: Lockdown v5.3 Fixes Couple of Issues

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:00:49 +0000

One of my favorite jailbreak iPhone apps is Lockdown which gives users the ability to password protect their iPhone apps.

iPhone developer, ipodtouchmaster05 has recently released an updated version of Lockdown (v5.3) which resolves couple of issues that makes the iPhone app even better now.

While reviewing Lockdown I had mentioned that after entering the password for a locked iPhone app; the next step of tapping on the “Launch” button wasn’t required and instead the app should launch immediately after the correct passcode is entered.

This issue has been addressed in Lockdown v5.3, the locked iPhone app launches immediately after you have entered the correct passcode (however it does not give an error in case you have entered the wrong passcode).

kDub, one of our readers had also reported an issue (security

flaw) with the app. You could bypass the passcode protection for an iPhone app by launching it using QuickGold app, the keyboard-based application launcher.

This issue is also fixed in Lockdown v5.3. With the latest version of Lockdown, if you try to launch a locked iPhone app using QuickGold, you are prompted to enter the passcode.

Before you update Lockdown to the latest version, please read this warning from the developer:

“If you are upgrading from v3.0, make sure you have unlocked your locked apps before upgrading or you will not be able to do so ever.”

To read the complete review of Lockdown and directions to install the app; check this post Jailbreak App – Lockdown Allows you to Password Protect your iPhone Apps.

Have you used Lockdown? Please give us your feedback in the comments below.

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Adobe Flash Player 10 Coming to Smartphones; But No Mention of Apple’s iPhone

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:55:44 +0000

At this weeks Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (which started today), Adobe Systems announced that they will be releasing their first full-blown Flash player 10 for smartphones by the end of the year.

As per Adobe, companies like Google, Microsoft, Palm and Nokia are all expected to release platforms or phones next year that will be able to display the same videos and applications just like computers.

However, there was no mention of Apple or Apple’s iPhone in Adobe’s announcement.

Adobe announced that:

Flash Player 10, which is the full version of Flash that runs on computers will be available on smartphones running Windows Mobile, Google’s Android, Nokia S60/Symbian, and the new Palm operating systems. Devices with Flash Player 10 are expected to hit the market starting in early 2010.

Adobe said that it was “not close to delivering Flash players that would work with Apple Inc.’s iPhone or Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry,”

Anup Murarka, director of partner development and technology strategy for Adobe’s platform business unit said:

“We’ve made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot of engineering work to be done”.

He added: “We’re working with Apple on what we have,” Murarka said. “We’re committed to make the Flash plug-in work on the iPhone.” And with RIM,

I thought the news about Apple and Adobe working together to bring Flash to the iPhone would end the year long saga between Adobe and Apple of bringing Adobe’s Flash player to the iPhone, one of the most requested features by iPhone users since its launch. However, the blogosphere seems to believe that based on today’s announcement, the saga might be far from over.

Mashable wrote Flash On Most Smartphones: Not Yet. Flash on the iPhone: Maybe Never while Fred Wilson at Silicon Alley Insider asked the question: Does Apple Have A Blind Spot About Flash? and top blogger, Scobleizer wanted to know if Adobe had snubbed Apple with FlashPlayer 10, Palm Pre, and Development Fund announcements.

The analysts also seem to have differing opinions. Stewart Robinson, an analyst with Strategy Analytics in the U.K is optimistic of Adobe Flash player coming to the iPhone. He believes Adobe is “working frantically behind the scenes to get Flash onto the iPhone … it will happen, but not until much later this year.”

But Jack Gold, an independent analyst with J. Gold Associates, is less optimistic. He gives two reasons for his lack of optimism:

The first one is techincal: “Adobe wants Flash to run really well. To get high performance, you need to run in the lower layers of the OS or phone. Windows Mobile, Nokia’s Symbian and Googles Android are relatively open to that, but OSes such as those on the BlackBerry and iPhone are not.”

The second is more to do with Apple business goals: “Apple wants to push its own technology, in this case, QuickTime. It has its own interests at heart. Look at how long it took to get Flash onto Macs. I honestly don’t think you will see Flash on the iPhone anytime soon.”

I guess the speculations will continue but let’s face it, its a win-win or lose-lose situation for Apple and Adobe. If they don’t bring Flash Player to the iPhone, Apple will give users another reason to buy the upcoming Palm Pre while for Adobe their next big move to bring Flash to smartphones will have a gaping hole if Apple’s iPhone, the most popular smartphone is not in the list of smartphones which supports Flash 10.

There is still lot of time left for them to get Flash to work on the iPhone; not to mention the rumors of the next generation iPhone which should come with improved hardware and based on what we know about Apple, they like to make such major announcements when they are on the podium rather than their partners making them on their own.

So I would still like to believe that Apple and Adobe working together to bring Flash to the iPhone and some of the statements made by Adobe’s Anup Murarka clearly indicate that, we just need to be patient.

What do you think? Is Flash on the iPhone such a big deal? Will it be a deal-breaker if you are planning to buy a smartphone? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Google Releases Optimized version of Google Books for the iPhone

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:44:39 +0000

Google had released the optimized version of Google Books for the iPhone thus opening up over 1.5 million public domain books in the US (and over half a million outside the US) for iPhone users to browse.

These books which are already available on Google Book Search have now been optimized so that they can be read on iPhone’s small screen.

Google Books Project was started in 2004 with the aim to collect in one place as many out-of-print and rare publications as possible.

At that time, Google’s co-founder Sergei Brin had said:

“We just feel this is part of our core mission. There is fantastic information in books. Often when I do a search, what is in a book is miles ahead of what I find on a website.”

With last week’s announcements, Google is trying to give users access to over 1.5 public domain books from anywhere.

The user interface of Google Books for the iPhone is very intuitive and quite fast for an iPhone web app, however, it still cannot beat the responsiveness and slick user experience of iPhone apps such as Stanza and Classics (which also offers the most realistic reading experience on the iPhone).

The interesting part about Google’s announcement was the backstory about the work involved to prepare so many books for the iPhone.

Google’s Book Search Mobile Team wrote on their blog about it:

“If you use Google Book Search, you’ll notice that our previews are composed of page images made by digitizing physical copies of books. These page images work well when viewed from a computer, but prove unwieldy when viewed on a phone’s small screen.

Our solution to make these books accessible is to extract the text from the page images so it can flow on your mobile browser just like any other web page. This extraction process is known as Optical Character Recognition (or OCR for short). The following example demonstrates the difference between page images and the extracted text:

=> “Because I made a blunder, my dear Watson— which is, I am afraid, a more common occurrence than anyone would think who only knew me through your memoirs. …

The extraction of text from page images is a difficult engineering task. Smudges on the physical books’ pages, fancy fonts, old fonts, torn pages, etc. can all lead to errors in the extracted text. The example below shows the page image from the original manuscript for Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. In this extreme case, the extracted text is riddled with errors:

=> “lV~e.il!” .ÍAoHyU- AUte. U brstty/affc. su.it a. f o.tl as ~tk¿* , I s&O.IL .éfiiíjz tiotkun-) of-ttmlr1¿*y ¿i^n. sta¿rs ! Jfo» ura.ve …

Imperfect OCR is only the first challenge in the ultimate goal of moving from collections of page images to extracted-text based books. Our computer algorithms also have to automatically determine the structure of the book (what are the headers and footers, where images are placed, whether text is verse or prose, and so forth). Getting this right allows us to render the book in a way that follows the format of the original book.

The technical challenges are daunting, but we’ll continue to make enhancements to our OCR and book structure extraction technologies. With this launch, we believe that we’ve taken an important step toward more universal access to books.”

Interesting stuff, it would have been great if book publishers allowed Google to use it’s technology to bring up-to-date publications iPhone users (maybe via a paysite).

Google Books has the couple of drawbacks:

Content: It gives you access to over 1.5 million books in the US (and over half a million outside the US) but these are public domain books which are out-of-print while I am usually looking for up-to-date publications.

You cannot access the books for offline reading which is possible with iPhone apps such as Stanza and Classics.

To check it out and start reading, point your iPhone’s Safari browser to http://books.google.com/m.

What do you think about Google Books for the iPhone? Actually the bigger question is, do you think iPhone’s small screen is good for reading? Please let us know in the comments.

Some related news:

Amazon plans to bring Kindle books to the iPhone. An Amazon spokesman while speaking to The New York Times had mentioned “We are excited to make Kindle books available on a range of mobile phones…We are working on that now”. I will definitely be looking out for that one.

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Google Sync Beta: Sync your Google Calendar and Gmail Contacts to your iPhone Over the Air

admin — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:08:45 +0000

Google seems to be on a roll. They had recently released their lightweight to-do list manager, Gmail Tasks for the iPhone, followed that with the announcement that they will be releasing their new feature in Google Maps called Latitude that allows users to share their location with their friends and family for the iPhone, and towards the end of last week released the optimized version of Google Books for the iPhone (which unfortunately we have not had the time to write about).

And if that was not good enough, Google has just released Google Sync Beta for the iPhone which lets you sync your Google Calendar and your Gmail Contacts to your iPhone over the air.

Google has just solved the problem I had with iPhone’s Contacts and Calendar app by launching Google Sync Beta for the iPhone which will allow me to keep my contacts and calendar in sync with your computer and iPhone.

Marcus Foster, Product Manager of Google Mobile wrote:

We’re offering more people easy access to their information on the go with two-way calendar and contacts sync for iPhones and Windows Mobile devices, and two-way contacts sync for mobile devices that support SyncML.

They go on to explain how Google Sync will work:

“For iPhone and Windows Mobile devices, Google Sync allows you to get your Gmail contacts and Google Calendar events onto your phone. Sync uses push technology, which means that any changes you make to your calendar or contacts from the browser or phone will be reflected on your device within minutes. For phones that support SyncML, the tool will allow you to get your Gmail contacts onto your phone. For all of these devices, synchronization happens automatically over the air, without having to manually sync your phone. The connection is always on, which means your information is always up-to-date, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.”

However, before you get excited, you should be aware of some of the limitations of Google Sync which is currently in beta by following this link.

You should also be aware that that Google Sync will replace all existing contacts and calendar information from your iPhone, so as Google has advised please take a backup of any important data before you get started. They have also provided instructions on how to take a backup of your contact and calendar information for PC users or Mac users.

You can find out more about Google Sync in the video below:

Setting up Google Sync Beta on your iPhone appears to be quite simple, you can follow the instructions provided at Google’s Help Centre.

Apple already offers MobileMe which keeps your email, contacts and calendar in sync with your computer and iPhone for $99 per year whereas Google is offering Google Sync for free. Interestingly, Microsoft had also recently announced limited invite-only beta of its own cloud service called My Phone which will allow users to sync critical information (e.g., contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, text messages, photos, video, etc) on a user’s mobile phone to a password protected Web site for free (though it works only on phones that run the Windows Mobile 6+ operating system currently).

As always, please let us know what you think about Google Sync Beta for the iPhone in the comments below.

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