You know, I never really know whose birthday it is, when Mother’s Day is around the corner, or that I missed my best friends anniversary (doh!) two weeks ago. The problem I have, and terribly in my own family, is that I can’t remember jack squat. I can only remember three birthdays - that of my mother, my father, and myself. I really shouldn’t be expected to know more, but you always have a card to send or you have to make some acknowledgement that yes, my cousin did in fact turn 25 recently. But other than Facebook and my lack of mental indicators, there’s really no good system other than the calendar and perhaps a sheet of worn out notebook paper. Yet I have found, there is an app for that. Read more

So many rumors about the next iPhone, still unofficially labelled as “4G”, have started spreading across the internet. Following Engadget’s report of what it looks like a prototype of the next iPhone - which someone apparently found in abar in San Jose - Dar ing Fireball’s John Gruber states that, after some calls, he believes that the iPhone Engadget pictures is indeed a prototype that Apple is “very interested in getting back”.

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I remember when I bought my first iPhone I was impressed by the quality of an application called Midomi (now Soundhound) which allowed you to hold you iPhone next to the stereo and, through an internet connection, instantly know which song was playing. To me (and later, to my friends) that was a revolution. God knows how many times we were hanging out somewhere in my town, and heard that song playing in a bar but we couldn’t know what song it was. Midomi was the perfect application to me, it sported a great user interface and definitely helped me discover a lot of new songs. Many other apps came out in the App Store after Midomi, all of them promised to do what Midomi was already doing but they failed. That app was the best.

Up until now Soundhound has done a great job on my iPhone. But just some weeks ago I decided to replace it with another app, MusicID.

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Half way through the Couch to 5k program, I’m already looking at taking my game to the next level. But good running apps are difficult to find for the iPhone, and they’re even worse for the iPod touch since you have a lack of GPS capabilities. You see, while you have niche running apps geared towards specific programs, the majority of running apps usually involve tracking distance, elevation, time, maybe speed, and maybe calories burned. I think a good example of a running app that solely focuses on your performance would be Nike’s. But the problem is, apps like this are geared towards people who’ve been running for a while, and just need a tracker. Finding an application that helps you reach a goal or hit a milestone is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

To solve this problem, Run Mate lets you build your own running programs. If you come across a new routine online, simply add it to Run Mate, do a couple stretches, then press the start button. It’s that simple.

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Right after Twitter announced the acquisition of the popular Tweetie app from Atebits’ Loren Brichter, many third party developers of Twitter clients started complaining that Twitter just killed the platform by entering the market itself. We may have different positions on this, but that’s not the point.

Point is, there are lots of developers out there who don’t care about “the big names”, they just want to keep developing for the sake of it and for the user base they’ve managed to build. I respect these guys. There’s a problem though: what about those that come up with new apps now? It shouldn’t be easy, knowing that you’re just getting started and Twitter is about to release the best mobile Twitter client ever made…for free. It’s a difficult situation, but fortunately there are some developers who love challenges and are releasing their apps anyway.

Meet Icebird, a new Twitter client for iPhone which I’m falling in love with.

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There was a time when I used to play a lot of videogames. Back then I spent almost 5 hours a day playing, inviting my friends over to beat them at Tekken and share tips and tricks about Final Fantasy VII. We had great times together, and that is also how I got started to English.

Problem is, I don’t have time to play anymore. Work, other business and family stuff and a a dog to take care of are all things that keep me away from firing up my Xbox 360 and enjoy some FF XIII. Yes, I do have a 360. Just as I have a Wii, a PS2 and every Nintendo console you may ever think of. It’s just I don’t have all that time anymore, and if I want to relax a little bit I open Guerrilla Bob or Orbital on my iPhone and spent 15 minutes catching up with my previous records. But still, it’s no console experience.

I still enjoy reading articles and news about games though, and that’s why this new app called GameTapp got me interested when I first saw it in the App Store.

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When I find a new artist that I really like on iTunes or elsewhere, the first thing I’ll do is check out their current album. For me, I like to keep only music from the past two years and up on my iPad and iPod touch. With such a current collection, there might just be an earlier album I missed from what I think are new and budding artists, so instead of heading over to Wikipedia or Myspace, I’ve come to check out Tune Finder instead. Read more

On the fringe of my college campus exists a slew of restaurants. Chinese. Greek. Mexican. No matter where you go, you’re gonna have to sit down and eventually tip your hot, um, friendly waitress. But if there’s one thing I can’t do in my head, it’s percentages (especially if more than one person is involved). How the heck do you tip? Does each person leave a dollar? What if one person forgets to bring cash? (Damn card carrying bastard!) For situations such as these, there is Checkmate. Read more

That’s right folks, Apple has finally approved Opera for iPhone, which has started showing up in the international App Stores. By now we’ve only managed to get a screenshots of the Japanese App Store, which is listing the app as free in productivity. [Link]

We’ll keep you posted with our review. But anyway, this is great news for all those who feared that Apple wouldn’t approve this. Good job.

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