iPhone - page 402

Just like last year, Apple’s kicking off WWDC a little earlier than its June 6th start date with an official WWDC 2011 app, which is now available for download on the App Store.

When it comes to mobile, Microsoft has been caught with its pants down twice in the last four years.

The first time was when the original iPhone completely turned the smartphone industry upside down overnight back in 2007. Microsoft was so slow to respond that by the time they released their first true touch-based operating system, Windows Phone 7, in November of last year, they had gone from a dominant player in the smartphone market to losing almost all of their market share.

Before Microsoft could even get Windows Phone 7 out the door, though, it happened again. Apple released the iPad in 2010, and this time, iOS didn’t just revolutionize smartphones… it attacked the very foundations of Microsoft’s Windows empire itself, cannibalizing laptop sales and utterly destroying the netbook market.

Creating a new iOS app can be a daunting task. Keeping track of all the ideas, pricing schemes, graphics, and collaborations can leave a developer feel swamped. The guys behind App Cooker hope to solve all those problems by providing the most advanced iOS mockup tool made exclusively for the iPad.

Jam packed with incredible features, App Cooker aims to be a must-have tool for all app developers and designers. Here’s a quick video of some of the things App Cooker can do for you:

Now that ex-Microsoft business veep Stephen Elop has taken over the floundering handset giant Nokia and inked deals with his old employer to use their mobile operating system, you’d think he’d want his employees to start using Windows Phone 7 handsets… preferably Nokia ones.

Not so. He wants them using iPhones.

In the bizzaro land of both tech marketing and Wall Street analysis, reality can sometimes become twisted. For example, despite the long struggle to get Verizon onboard, one observer suggests Apple could leave them behind in the dust with the next iPhone by launching with 4G support on AT&T’s network only.

Have you ever been invited to a meeting but you have no idea where it’s located or how long it will take you to get there? Well, in the future your iPhone may be able to tell you through dynamic calendar alerts.

Making rumors that Apple would be integrating Twitter support directly into iOS’s photo sharing functionality just a little more likely, Twitter has just announced that they are baking native photo sharing into the microblogging service. Is this just the laying of groundwork for a more unified iOS/Twitter experience?

Apple updated its iWork applications for iOS yesterday to include support for the iPhone and iPod touch, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. As a regular user of Keynote, Numbers and Pages on the iPad, I have been patiently waiting for their iPhone counterparts for some time – and these are well worth the wait.

At Computex 2011 in Taiwan this week, Asus unveiled its Padfone – a new smartphone that can be placed into the back of a magic dock transforming it into a tablet. But before you stick your iPhone 4 on eBay and start waiting for one of these things, check out this dock from ECS which does exactly the same thing with your iPhone.

To celebrate the birthday of Marilyn Monroe today, the magnificent Silent Film Director app for the iPhone has gone free for just 24 hours.

Speculation that Apple may build its own maps application into iOS 5 and ditch its partnership with Google has now been put to bed, after Google’s Executive Chairman confirmed the two companies are still buddies.

iTunes is often called Apple’s worst piece of software. It’s criticized for being a bloated and slow way to manage music and sync iOS devices. This becomes especially apparent if you store a lot of content on your device or have a large iTunes library. iTunes doesn’t have to be so painful to use though. In this video, you’ll see a few ways you can make iTunes speedier and more responsive.

Google’s Eric Schmidt may have just pre-announced the iPhone with NFC.

After months of rumors, Apple just gave us a nice little pre-WWDC present: if you don’t mind a little bit of cramping, you can now use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

In the halls of power, you’re more likely to see an iPad or an iPhone, as U.S. federal agencies toss BlackBerries aside for Apple technology. Could President Obama get an iPhone next?

At the University of Iowa, school administrators want students and visitors to quickly and easily learn what’s happening, get around and find campus resources. Their new iPhone app is a notable step towards that goal, including addressing that most pressing of all questions: is my laundry done yet?

“If something ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a phrase Etymotic must have taken extremely seriously, judging by a look at their now-mythic, $99 ER-6i. The set has been around since their release in 2004, after which they quickly became the standard against which all other sub-$100 IEMs were tested. But seven years is an eon for a product to have remained essentially unchanged in the gadget world. Are they still as good now as they were then?

Illusion Labs – the team behind the hugely successful Touchgrind skateboarding game – have taken everything that made their first hit such a success and used it to create Touchgrind BMX. Put the skateboard to one side and become a BMX pro – performing spectacular tricks in beautifully crafted locations all over the world.

The Heist is currently famous for its overwhelming popularity that has helped it knock Angry Birds off the top spot of the App Store’s paid chart. Featuring a collection of mind-bending puzzles that you must solve in order to get your hands on the valuable prize inside the vault.

Siege Hero boasts gameplay similar to Angry Birds, in that you must destroy a group of enemies protected by glass, rocks and timber. However, instead of taking aim at a group of ugly pigs, vikings are your enemies, and rocks replace the birds as your ammo.

Find out more about the games above and check out the rest of the week’s must-haves – including Back to the Future: Episode 3 and To-Fu: The Trials of Chi – below!

Already famous for its excellent Pro Messenger IM application, eBuddy has taken real-time messaging to the next level with eBuddy XMS – a free, real-time messenger that enabled you to chat with text, pictures, emoticons and more. It features a highly-polished user interface and an experience guaranteed to give apps like WhatsApp and PingChat! some real competition.

In addition to the recent launch of ‘Apple Store 2.0′, the Apple Store application for iPhone also got a much-needed revamp. The latest version of the app works internationally and boasts some great new features.

Opera Mini has been the iPhone browser of choice for many since it launched, promising to be the fastest, most cost-efficient web-browsing experience for your iOS device today. Its recent update made it a universal application delivering all its Opera goodness to the iPad, which impressed Cult of Mac’s Giles Turnball in his recent review.

Find out more about the applications above and check out the rest of this week’s must-haves – including Contacts Journal and Aelios Weather – below!

There’s something fishy about this, but iPad 3G has supposedly been hacked to make phone calls and send SMS messages — just like a giant iPhone!

Check out the video of the supersized iPad/iPhone in action:

Seems like just yesterday that the Swoosh introduced its Nike+ iPod kit to the delight of iPod-toting runners everywhere. It  wasn’t yesterday though, it was five years ago (and one week). To celebrate, Nike has been giving away free copies of its Nike+ app (regularly $2) at the App Store. The app uses the iPhone’s GPS and MotionX technology — the same tech found in Jawbone’s stunning new Era Bluetooth headset, btw — to track your run (the GPS works well outdoors, the MotionX tech takes over where GPS signals are weak). And then there’re all the great motivational features and post-run sharing options.

Better make a dash if you want a copy, though — it’ll probably revert back to $2 soon.

The guys over at Alphonso Labs have put a lot of hard work into their iPad app Pulse. Despite the plethora of reader apps out there, Pulse really stands out with its sleek interface that allows users to read vast amounts of content without feeling overwhelmed by the myriad of sources.

As fans of the app, we’re stoked that the Pulse team has decided to include Cult of Mac under their main “Featured” section. If you’re looking for another way to get your Apple and Cult of Mac fix on your iPad or iPhone, then Pulse is definitely an app that you need to check out. And make sure you add our feed while you’re at it.

Remember the gnashing of teeth from the television industry when the DVR was first introduced – it would kill TV ads. Well, the real threat to TV advertising is your iPhone.

The iPhone and other smartphones account for 60 percent of the distractions from TV ads, according to a behavioral survey. The study participants reported turning away from the TV – and the advertising – whenever they received a text or a call.

With the DVR, even if you hit the ‘fast forward’ button, the advertising message registers with you.

How will Hollywood react to the findings? Will we see campaigns similar to that against distracted driving? Perhaps the industry will create an iPhone app that disables your phone when ads appear?

RIM never did shake its button-down image in attempts to expand into the consumer market dominated by Apple. Realizing its failure, the handset maker is ready to surrender to Apple in the consumer ring, and focus on its business roots… an arena which iPhone is also increasingly dominating.

From the “Not Sure If This Is A Good Idea” Department, automaker Porsche has developed the Porsche G-Force iPhone app as a free download for driving enthusiasts and teenagers of all ages.