iPhone Approll

As the iPhone continues to march across the globe, Google's special (and slick) interface that was introduced in mid-December has been limited to English speakers. However, yesterday the company rolled it out to 33 countries in 16 languages, including Chinese--despite the fact the handset is not available through any Chinese carriers.

More importantly, Google continues to create special mobile variations of its other pages, which now includes Google News and support for users of Google Apps. Google Apps users can now check their mail using the same interface regular Gmail users have been enjoying, with the added benefit of being signed in to use the other mobile Google services.

The updated news viewer allows users to browse by the front page or by section, and features a built-in search tool. It's still essentially a link repository to other third-party sites, but it's now far easier to parse through on smaller screens than its original format.

What really makes the updated News page shine is that it integrates YouTube videos in the related stories. If there are videos for a selected subject, you can view them as thumbnails, which when clicked will jump you to the handset's built-in YouTube viewer. Short of actually having Flash, this is the closest you'll get to being able to casually watch Web videos while browsing other news networks. You could also use a conversion tool like vTap or Avot mV, but this new system requires one less step.

I still ... Read more

One of Apple's biggest blunders in creating its own directory of iPhone Web apps was to make the site suited for desktop users instead of people on the portable handset.

While the company has since made it easy for people to bookmark Web apps onto their home screens by adding a quick link from inside of Safari Mobile, the "official" directory of Web apps continues to be unapproachable for iPhone users unless they're on a speedy Wi-Fi connection. Widget directory Widgetbox has come up with its own solution and launched a directory of iPhone-friendly widgets that can be installed on the home screen as mini widgetized Web apps.

The directory interface is completely iPhone-friendly, and to go alongside it there's a simple how-to guide to turning bits of Web content into widgets that can be added to the directory just by tagging your work with "iPhone." Users without any sort of Web development experience will be able to make their own iPhone widget apps using Widgetbox's widget-building wizard, which I'm assuming will get iPhone-centric size presets.

The one thing I found underwhelming with most of the example iPhone widgets is that they look just like they do in the directory instead of taking up the entire screen. They also come with Widgetbox branding and links back to the directory--two things which are bound to take crucial seconds to load while on an EDGE connection. However, it's still a lot better than having to load ... Read more

The legendary Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan just got a bit more...modernized.

MoMA announced Monday that it has installed a museum-wide Wi-Fi network so that visitors can access a mobile Web site on handheld devices with HTML browsers, which basically means Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. They can then load up audio tours and commentary; content is available in eight languages as well as in specialized versions for children, teenagers, and the visually impaired.

It's not clear whether the museum Wi-Fi will also let visitors access the Web as a whole, or just the internal museum site. Requests for clarification were not immediately answered.

Additionally, MoMA has put its library of audio and video programming into podcast format for Apple's iTunes Store's iTunes U education section: current and past audio programs, content from panels and lectures, and video clips from exhibit installations and artist interviews.

Museum visitors who are particularly information-hungry can also now use "interactive kiosks" in the form of a number of Apple's iMac computers stationed around MoMA, featuring detailed museum information, artist biographies, events listings, and e-card services.

Unless you're in Korea, the MySpace experience hasn't evolved much visually. Mobile users have it even worse with a stripped-down version that cuts out a few features in the name of being quick to load and working better on small screens.

However, developer Jake Marsh isn't willing to give up the latest and greatest features in the name of mobility, and has nearly completed a mobile port of MySpace for the iPhone that does a great job of copying the brilliant user interface of Facebook's iPhone app in the name of making MySpace more accessible to iPhone users.

While it lacks points for originality in the looks department, it makes up for it in functionality that's far easier to use than some of the solutions currently available in MySpace's official mobile version, and the one found on Helio's phones. One of its greatest feats is taking music, the centerpiece of MySpace, and letting you run the tracks right on your device, something you can't do because of the lack of Flash. It's also made it easier to subscribe to people's newsfeeds, something introduced this year with the apps platform that's not the central focus of the mobile app like it is for Facebook. Marsh has also implemented a photo viewer just like the one found on Facebook's app, letting you browse photos in album form instead of one at a time.

Update: Marsh got in contact with me ... Read more

For professional screen-recording software, it's hard to top Camtasia Studio, a popular--and pricey--application for capturing, editing, and producing screencasts, especially tutorials and presentations. One of Camtasia Studio's strengths is its well-rounded list of preset production values for multiple media formats, including Web-optimized Flash, DVD, and iPod. On Tuesday, TechSmith released Camtasia Studio 5.1, an update that officially packages your screen recordings as MV4 files for playback on the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is good news for owners of Apple's vanguard media players and great news for corporate Camtasia producers trying to reach them.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

In addition to adding support for the two touch-screen gadgets, Camtasia Studio 5.1 enhances a few other operations. For instance, users will now find a drop-down menu for a third audio track. The tools for adding and editing call outs have also been streamlined, and two new call outs have joined the library. Producers will appreciate that the slick Express Show template has opened up to FLV files, and that Camtasia Theater can now wrap FLV and Express Show files into a snazzy presentation that users can navigate on their own, instead of just SWF files.

Licensed users of Camtasia Studio 5 will receive the updates for free. Everyone else can download the 30-day trial.

This morning I've been playing with the prerelease version of Fring's talk software for the iPhone. It enables users to place VoIP calls in place of their plan minutes, giving people a cheap international calling alternative to their carrier's expensive per-minute charges. The one caveat (besides the need for a "jailbroken" handset) is that it requires the thick river of data only available over Wi-Fi, which means you won't be able to make or receive VoIP calls without being in range of a hotspot.

Besides VoIP, the app excels in instant messaging. You can live text chat with buddies on MSN Live Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo, as well as post and read messages to and from Twitter. Fring also lets you do voice chat with MSN, Google Talk, and ICQ.

To instigate a call, you simply have to hit a large green call button after hitting a buddy's name on the Fring contact list (see photo below). There's no minute counter, hold button, or anything else you might be used to with a regular phone--it's just a quick and dirty call that with a good connection sounds downright decent.

If a buddy is on one of the chat networks that includes voice chat, you can skip the finger strokes and use your voice instead.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The one service I ran into problems with was Skype. The app lets you plug in your Skype credentials and hook up your phone ... Read more

(Credit: CNET Networks)

There's no real killer app yet for retrieving listings information on your mobile phone, but there could be soon.

On Aptil 11, FreeMobile411 launches the consumer version of its carrier-offered services. Visting FreeMobile411.com from your mobile browser gets you a decent-looking ad-supported WAP site that simplifies directory search and helps you avoid long waits while listening to ads from dial-in services like 1-800-FREE-411.

Enter the search term--it can be a business name ("Blockbuster"), business type ("video store"), or person ("Bill Blockbuster"). Then select the search type, and fill in either the city or zip to search or browse listings. From there you'll have a spectrum of choices to plot on a map, get directions to, dial with a click, or use as an anchor while searching for nearby gap pumps, hotels, banks, and so on. You'll still be able to connect to the operator at the usual carrier rate, but with this useful, easily navigable app, it's doubtful you'll ever need to. P.S. It even looks decent on the RAZR!

This article was updated 6:00 pm on 3/16/08.

Let's get right to the point: Avvenu Access 'n Share is phone-to-PC remote access service with a strong base and a lot of good potential. With it, you can view and edit files stored on your PC from any smartphone. Provided your computer is running when you log in to your Avvenu account, you'll see your file system reproduced on the phone's screen. As long as your phone is outfitted with a third-party document viewer, you'll be able to remotely read and edit documents. Photos also render well.

Upgrading from the basic free service lets subscribers hand-pick which documents, photos, and videos they want stored on Avvenu's servers, for access whenever the computer is logged off or powered down. A few quibbles mar the overall experience: The beta version of Avvenu's music player has ceased being supported, Avvenu's founder Keith Barraclough told me, and the number of clicks it takes to get from the file tree to the meat of your content is wearisome. Also, the search function only works if you've got Google Desktop installed on your PC.

However, Nokia's December 2007 acquisition of Avvenu spells out change. Barraclough hinted that, supported by Nokia's greater resources, users can expect to see a faster, more streamlined remote access product that fully supports multimedia playback and lives up ... Read more

I remember a time when making ringtones used to be a very cumbersome experience. My technique of choice was to use the open-sourced Audacity then do various conversions in iTunes or Quicktime Pro by tweaking some of the advanced settings. However, the Web has spawned newer, less tedious methods. On of them, Audiko, is a particularly well-done effort, letting you grab audio tracks from your hard drive or the Web and customize them for use on your mobile phone.

While I think ringtones of popular songs are largely annoying and superfluous, the tools to create them are actually quite fun. Audiko simply layers the entire track on one timeline, while giving you a magnified area for each minute of the song to manipulate up to a 40-second ringtone from the segment of your choice. The entire editor is overlaid on a waveform of the song, and you can toggle whether or not you want a fade on the in and out, which can be helpful if your phone doesn't automatically do it for you.

When you're all finished creating your pocket masterpiece you've got three simple download options. One will save it as a normal mp3 ringtone compatible on most major handsets, as well as an option to download the .m4r iPhone-compatible ringtone--something you normally need an application like iToner or GarageBand (both Mac-only apps) to create. There's also a WAP-friendly URL to simply grab the audio file on your handset without having to sync to ... Read more

MxTube is a fantastic new native application for jailbroken iPhones. If you're one of the lucky few with a jailbroken handset and the installer app, you'll find MxTube in the recent packages section as of last night. The app is fairly similar to the iPhone's native YouTube video viewer with the added benefit of being able to download entire clips and save them to your phone's memory for offline viewing.

Downloaded videos don't show up to those in your regular video library, and won't sync up into iTunes the next time you plug in your phone, but they can be deleted one at a time just like regular video files in case you start running short on space.

The app has a search tool that lets you hunt for videos, and each one has the option to download the higher or lower quality version in case you feel like trying to save space. Downloads can be stacked up, although in its current release, having more than one video in the download queue seems to crash it.

Speaking of crashes, the app is has a handful of bugs that make it a little volatile, including one that doesn't let you exit playing videos unless you hit the home button. Otherwise it's a fantastic tool for grabbing a ton of free video content without having to deal with the molasseslike speeds of EDGE or third-party ripping tools that require syncing with iTunes to transfer content.

I've embedded a demo from the creator of the app after the break.

... Read more