Posts tagged with "iPhone"

Google Shopper for iPhone Now Available

Back in November, Google announced their Shopper app for Android. Millions of Android users have downloaded it and now it’s time for us iOS users to get a taste. Thats right, Google Shopper is now available for iPhone.  The Google Mobile Blog has just posted a formal introduction to the app. In case you didn’t know, Shopper turns your iPhone into a shopping assistant so you can learn more about products and read relevant user reviews, compare prices at online and local stores, and save and share products for later consideration.

Shopper checks your searches by cover art, barcodes, typing or voice search then after you get your results you can choose a specific product that you like. It also lets you compare prices from other retailers and even locate nearby shops that sell your product. Some retailers will even provide inventory information so you can check and see if your trip across town will be worth it. Read more

Angry Birds’ Next Level: The Super Bowl

It finally happened: Angry Birds is officially going mainstream. And not in yet another TV show that briefly mentions the app – in a Super Bowl commercial. As reported by AdAge, 20th Century Fox has teamed up with Rovio, makers of Angry Birds, to launch a commercial about the upcoming animated film Rio which will feature Angry Birds and a code to enable a secret level in the game. Fox and Rovio will also launch a special version of the popular iOS app called “Angry Birds Rio” in March, where characters of the movie and the game will merge into a single storyline.

The code that will be given in the Super Bowl ad will grant access to a level that, once completed, will further enable users to enter a contest to attend the premiere of the movie “Rio” in Rio de Janeiro on March 22nd. AdAge also reports about the spot:

Fox said the spot will be the first Super Bowl ad that requires viewers to pause the spot and watch frame-by-frame to capture an embedded code. Other marketers are adopting somewhat similar tactics, however, in their Super Bowl ads this year.

The Angry Birds social phenomenon looks unstoppable and, frankly, it seems like it’s moving even too fast for a game that was nothing a year ago. Still, what Rovio is doing is impressive marketing-wise, but I hope the infamous birds won’t end up on McDonald’s happy meals anytime soon.  Rovio is also rumored to be working on a real sequel to the original game, which should feature a “pigs point of view” and a brand new gameplay.

Aluminium That Glows? Apple’s Patented That

Apple was today awarded a bunch of new patents (eighteen in total) and Patently Apple has covered those that were most important and one of those is particularly interesting to us at MacStories. The patent surrounds an invisible ‘light-transmissive’ display system that would allow Apple to craft a piece of aluminum and through manufacturing techniques, illuminate something such as a logo through the metal.

The process that Apple has patented involves thinning out the aluminum in the required area and then using a specific laser beam setup that drills microscopic holes in specific designs to create the shape that would be illuminated.

What this patent could allow for is an even more invisible sleep indicator light (that light that pulses when your MacBook is sleeping), a power button that is flush with the rest of the MacBook and even a glowing Apple logo on the back of iPhones and iPads.

[Via Patently Apple]

Official Basecamp Mobile Web App Launches

37Signals has announced the exciting launch of Basecamp Mobile, an official web app that works universally across Webkit browsers on mobile smartphones. With experience in designing mobile applications, 37Signals’ goal was to release a strong, universal HTML5 app that didn’t require in-house iPhone & Android developers. The end result? Basecamp works across WebOS and Blackberry devices too!

A big part of this initial release was nailing the basics that mattered the most. We had to make a bunch of hard calls about what was important enough to make version 1. That meant leaving some things out and not bringing full functionality to other things. For example, you can view Milestones but you can’t add new ones. But you can view, add, change, and assign to-dos. We plan on rounding out the functionality as time goes on.

Jason Fried notes that this version will launch without every editing feature under the sun, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have the ability to view Writeboards, reply to messages, or browse attached PDFs. At MacStories, we’re very excited that there’s finally an official mobile solution for one of our favorite products, and we can’t wait to see where the company takes us. If you breath the 37Signals mantra, read up on the launch notes via the Signal vs. Noise blog before catching the “Works Without Apps!” seal of approval on the mobile landing page. Read more

Apple Possibly Tightening the iOS Walled Garden

Apple seems to be tightening its control over the App Store ecosystem after telling some developers including Sony that the selling of e-books within their app must go through Apple. The move is somewhat contradictory of recent movements by Apple to open up the App Store and gestures of collaboration with publishers.

Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading division told the New York Times that Apple rejected Sony’s e-book reader iPhone application on the basis that the app would have let users buy e-books bought from the Sony Reader Store, bypassing Apple and that any purchases made from within an app must go through Apple from now on.  Mr. Haber said; “We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store.”.

[Updated and points clarified in light of responses to the NYT article]

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Apple Job Posting Suggests LTE for iOS Devices

As noted by 9to5mac, a new job listing on Apple’s website suggests support for LTE is being considered at Cupertino as a “specific duty” for iOS cellular protocol engineers. While LTE-related job listings have surfaced before, this is the first time LTE is mentioned among the “specific duties” for an applicant.

Specific Duties

- Implementation, Integration, customization, enhancement and maintenance of L1-3 Protocols for one or more of the following air interface: GSM/UMTS, CDMA (1x/EVDO), LTE etc.
- Carrier specific features implementation

Job listings shouldn’t be considered as the ultimate proof of a new feature Apple is working on, but they provide good indication of things to come sometime in the future, or that are at least being tested. LTE 4G connectivity seems pretty obvious at this point, considering that carriers in the US are updating their networks to support it and several European carriers have confirmed LTE will be launched during 2012 and 2013.

It is unclear whether the next-generation iPhone will feature LTE or not, but the rumors have been intensifying lately with China Mobile making the bold statement that “Apple will support LTE” and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak saying “LTE will come”.

Bump for iPhone Updated With App Sharing

Bump, a popular iPhone app to share data like music and contact information between devices, was updated earlier today to include support for app sharing. The app, which is a free download in the App Store and was listed among the most popular apps for iPhone, revolves around the simple concept of “bumping” your iPhone with another person to share various kinds of information, locally and within seconds.

The new app sharing functionality allows you to build a list of your most used iPhone apps and select the ones you want to recommend to a friend. Once the list is created, bump your iPhone and your friend will receive the apps you chose as direct links to the iTunes Store. Bump doesn’t of course share the actual application file, but it comes quite in handy if you have lots of interesting apps to share with someone and you don’t feel like sending him an email with all the apps’ names.

What’s really cool is that, unlike app recommendation services that plug into your Facebook or Twitter accounts, Bump does everything locally with people you really know are interested in what you’re sharing. You don’t have to “like” or “upvote” recommendations, you just share items you know the recipient will be interested in.

As the developers write on the company blog:

This has been our biggest feature request of late, and it makes sense as to why.  With more than 300,000 apps in the iTunes App Store, finding the best apps has become quite difficult.  Who wants to sort through the 100 weather apps just to find WeatherBug?  But what is the most common conversation among a group of iPhone users?  “Hey, what cool apps do you have?”

You can download Bump for free here.