app - page 24

Apple’s iPad is the first generation of what I hope will be a long line of magical tablets. Unfortunately,  it has one minor problem that will be more evident now that iOS 4.2.1 has been released.

That problem will be the made evident by the over zealous use of multitasking on a device that only has 256MB of memory in which to run applications. The iPhone 4 twice that or 512MB.  Users won’t be able to help themselves because multitasking is just to valuable to ignore or give up.

So the problem of having less memory to run apps will be frequent warnings that “your device is running low on memory. ” I’ve seen it happen to others and the image above is my own personal encounter with the problem. Apple had given the iPhone 4 pretty liberal amounts of application RAM, so I was  a bit taken aback that the iPad didn’t have at least 512MB to 1GB of RAM when it was released.

Fortunately, the work around is easy.

If you still rely on your TiVo more than your new AppleTV for watching television, TiVo’s soon to come out with a new app that will make it even easier to use their service from a supine position on your couch, using an iPad as an advanced remote control.

The much-anticipated Skyfire Browser finally came to iOS today albeit briefly before vanishing from the App store. If you haven’t heard about it Skyfire is a new app that would allow users to watch Flash video on their iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch by converting it to HTML5.

It was an unexpected surprise to find out that Apple didn’t pull the app — the vendor did. The vendor advised me that Skyfire’s launch was actually very successful or should we say overly so – not like that hasn’t happened before right?

According to Kevin Jordan, a spokesperson for Skyfire Labs, Inc., “The app is actually SOLD OUT while Skyfire increases server capacity. They’ll open up a new batch for download very soon. Skyfire is working to increase server capacity as we speak and in the end, this will result in the best possible user experience once they hit the store again. ”

In any event the app, which has initially sold out in only five hours,  will make a reappearance in the App Store soon.

Read the complete Skyfire Labs, Inc. press release here.

The Apple Store app just got some new functionality that that will make it easier and more painless to meet with your local Genius Bar tech barista for the speedy identification of your iMac’s ills.

Yahoo Messenger is a popular chat client with millions of users. It is available on most popular desktop and mobile platforms. So this week when I read fellow Cultist, Eli Milchman’s, news post about the big app upgrade that brought video calling over 3G or Wi-Fi I was excited about trying it out. However, that excitement quickly died off after Eli and I started to test it out. Needless to say today there is one less Yahoo Messenger user than there was before.

That user is me and you can find out why by reading the rest of my review.

The iPad seems a fairly small canvas, but it’s not much smaller than the Mona Lisa, upon which was painted the enigmatic face of history’s most beloved transvestite. Why not sling it up on an easel, then, and do some painting with Remote Palette… easily one of the neatest painting apps we’ve seen lately, largely through its fun cross-device universal functionality.

About a month ahead of America and Europe, New Zealand clocks fall an hour back when they switch to Daylight Savings Time on the last Sunday of September. Apparently, though, New Zealand iPads and iPhones are proving a tad overzealous when it comes to falling back this year: numerous iOS users are reporting that since yesterday’s switch, their alarms are going off an hour early. Given that Kiwis were already having to wake up an hour earlier than they were used to, that’s quite a rude awakening.

We all hate chores. Whether it’s taking out the trash, washing the dishes or any other number of horrifyingly dull tasks. Game developer Rexbox aims to inject some fun into these mundane tasks with the release of EpicWin for iPhone, which turns your to-do list into a game.

Independent app developer Tim Sears has just released his latest creation for iPhone, and if you are a Foursquare user, this is one for you.

Future Checkin utilizes the new background location features available with iOS 4 and allows you to check-in to your favorite, recent or nearby venues without even getting your phone out of your pocket.

TUAW published a report today that included new video evidence supporting the belief that the iPhone 4 death grip is very real. I know you are probably rolling your eyes about this, since there have been many other videos covering this topic, but this time things are different. This video includes the demonstration of the iPhone 4 along with a customized field services app that clearly shows the iPhone 4 antenna problem isn’t the result of some software glitch as Apple claims.

I purchased my first iPad with Wi-Fi and later upgraded to one with 3G when they were available. I am using it more than I am using my MacBook Pro especially for quick and dirty tasks that it is perfectly suitable for like e-mail, internet surfing, chatting, Twitter, reading, shopping, research, etc. My iPad became very useful very quickly and now it has become a very important part of my life at work and at home. Therefore I’m constantly seeking something new, innovative, or productive to do with it and now that I am armed with a VGA video adapter I’ve discovered that my iPad makes a great whiteboard.

There are over 200,000 apps in the iTunes App Store now and everyone can agree that wading through all those apps trying to find the real gems is a big problem. We all muddle through somehow and find an app gem or two usually by word of mouth, a Cult of Mac review, or other means. I’m happy to announce that I’ve found another way to find good apps and this solution is entertaining to boot — Adam Curry’s Big App Show app.

We’ve known for some time that the iPhone and iPod Touch are not as secure as we would like them to be — and unfortunately the same can be said about the new iPad. The lack of built-in encryption leaves our personal data on any of these devices at risk. Luckily for iPhone and iPod Touch users third party vendors are supplying apps that help fill some of these gaps in security. One such app, which was popular on the Palm OS platform, is SplashID from SplashData, Inc., which stores all your passwords, logins, and banking details.

ColorSplash for iPad by Hendrick Kueck (iTunes Link), who now operates under the name Pocket Pixels, Inc., is an app that allows you to make some very dramatic changes to your photos for its meager $1.99 price tag. The software uses a process called desaturation to convert your photos to black and white while letting you leave behind color within areas you select. The results are astounding.

My iPhone has become more than just a cell phone — it is really useful and frankly indispensable. It wouldn’t be without the plethora of apps available, but not just any app will do so when I find a good one I like to write about it. Minibooks for Freshbooks is one of those apps. It is a full-featured iPhone invoicing app that makes invoicing my clients fast and easy. If you are a freelancer or contractor – and in these days of unemployment, who isn’t – Minibooks takes the pain out of asking your clients for money.

Calling all Star Trek fans out there: The iPhone 3Gs has a universal translator — Jibbigo. Speak into your iPhone in any of the five supported languages, and the iPhone speaks the translation back.

I love to travel. Whether it be for work or for pleasure, nothing beats exploring the country or the world. What I don’t like about work travel is keeping up with expenses. It sucks out any fun I may be having and adds on to any frustrations I might be experiencing.

The only way to make expense reports even worse is to try and tackle them on the flight home in coach with a one-year-old behind you screaming and kicking your seat. But a free new iPhone app, Expensify, makes expense reports easier for those who travel with an iPhone.

Read on for the full review:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjymDGnt3Lw

If you’ve ever wanted to transform yourself into a hydrocephalic Italian plumber sucked into a strange toilet dimension in order to battle a legion of evil, anthropomorphic mushrooms… well, amazingly, there’s an app for that.

Cleverly named after the phonetic transcription of one of the character’s hallmark stereotypical ejaculations, iRwego is more than just a sound board of noises plucked from the games of Super Mario Bros.… although it’s that too. What’s really cool about the app is that it uses the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer to automatically accompany your life with appropriate Mario sound effects.

Searching the iTunes app store is much easier when you’re not using the iTunes app store. Launching today, uquery.com aims to be the vehicle for the app discovery process.

The site uses its own system of algorithms called “AppRank” to make it easy and fast to find the right app for certain tasks. Search results appear in a easy-to-navigate center column along with options to refine your search.

Unlike the iTunes App Store, you can use your browser’s “find in page” command to pinpoint your search term in the search results. It’s the little things.

At the moment, uquery.com appears to generate search results from the full text app descriptions. As the site gains visitors, search queries and tweets, the “AppRank” system will improve its ability to make the app discovery process more intuitive.

If you want to know how much money you’re spending on espressos, latte and the like (and gauge how much you’re buzzing), this is the iPhone, iPod Touch app for you.

CoffeeNut costs a buck. Which is still less than a cup of coffee, these days.

Via Geek Sugar

Threadless, online purveyor of uber-cool community-designed tees, now has an iPhone app for on-the-go purchases.

Much like the Tag Show queries on Flickr or Picasa, the app connects to the Threadless database of new shirts and loads designs on your iPhone for quick perusal.

Fringe benefit: the T-shirt designs also make cool wallpaper.

The free app was designed by Ian Marsh.

Via App Craver