apps

iPhone apps of the week

I've now crossed into my eighth page of apps on the iPhone. Frankly, the time is quickly approaching when I'm going to have to delete good apps from my iPhone just so I can download more. To make matters worse, the apps keep on coming at the iTunes Store, as more developers figure out ways to utilize this unique platform--and they keep getting better! I haven't deleted an app that I've paid for yet, but I believe that the time might be coming when money spent will not be enough of a reason to keep an … Read more

Most iPhone applications gathering dust

iPhone users have very short attention spans.

Just 30 percent of people who buy an iPhone application actually use it the day after it was purchased, according to Pinch Media, which analyzed over 30 million downloads from Apple's App Store. And the numbers plunge from there: after 20 days, less than 5 percent of those who downloaded an application are actively using it. The drop-off is worse for free applications.

Those are amazing numbers. It's not a new pattern--GigaOm and TechCrunch noticed this last August--but back then, with the App Store just a month old, it was … Read more

Put maps in your tweets with GeoTweeter

Something missing from many location-aware Twitter applications for iPhone is the option to stick a Web map into a tweet. Most simply change the home city in your Twitter profile and slap on some latitude and longitude coordinates. This is great if you feel like looking those up, but otherwise it's a less than ideal way to tell people where you are.

Schmap, the social-mapping service, has a new and free iPhone app out called GeoTweeter (not to be confused with GeoTweeter.com) that lets you do just that. You can broadcast your location on a map that gets … Read more

iPhone gets on the 'Oregon Trail'

I remember playing Oregon Trail in grammar school on what I believe was an Apple II, but honestly, I have only a vague recollection of the game. I recall having fun with it, but can't really remember concrete details.

Thing is, I could relay pretty much every detail of the game Black Belt (a game I was addicted to at the time), but my mind's eye is coming up short on Oregon Trail images.

I think this has less to do with the quality of the game or my brain's memory capacity and more to do with … Read more

Google's Mobile App comes to Windows phones

Windows Mobile owners tired of opening their browsers every time they want to start a Google search can now put that habit to rest. On Wednesday, Google released a version of Google Mobile App for Windows Mobile phones (rate it here).

On Microsoft's mobile platform, the free, native application installs a home screen plug-in from which you can launch a handful of Google's mobile services. About two thirds of Google Mobile App is dedicated to its search field. The other portion is populated with thumbnail icons that open your Gmail, Picasa Web albums, Google Docs, and so on, … Read more

Selling songs as iPhone apps

Eliot Van Buskirk over at Wired has an interesting post today about Seattle band Presidents of the United States of America.

In addition to selling its songs on iTunes in the normal fashion, PUSA has just released a $2.99 application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that will let you stream songs from four albums (the ones whose rights are owned by the band), plus assorted other flotsam (live tracks, demos, whatever).

The application was built by Melodeo, whose vice president of business development is none other than PUSA's Dave Dederer.

The songs are streamed, not downloaded, which … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 913: Purple-footed and pregnant

A new medical wiki will tell you why you shouldn't have painted your sister's toes purple, but apparently all online medical advice pages tell Natali she's pregnant. She's not. Facebook also backed down on its terms of service and Telstra is in trouble with Microsoft.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 913

Facebook backs down http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=54746167130

Grand Theft Auto IV adds episodic content http://www.cnet.com/8301-18603_1-10165231-73.html

Telstra boss Sol Trujillo’s mobile phone loaded with top-secret software stolen by pickpocket http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25076154-5014239,00.html… Read more

Review: Ballistic Trajectory Calculator

Ballistic is a new app written by Jonathan Zdziarski that brings a very advanced ballistics calculator to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app comes in two versions a standard edition ( iTunes Link) for $7.99 and a Field Tactical Edition ( iTunes Link) for $9.99. This review will be about the standard edition.

Speed & Accuracy

The application is very fast at performing calculations, and it makes a great trajectory calculator. Perfect on the range, yes, but only because it is on the iPhone and portable thus fitting in the pockets of your BDU's or other favorite range … Read more

Get your bounce on

Bounce On Lite is a fun, free, one-level preview of Bounce On, a cartoony platformer game in which you help a rolling, bouncing red ball navigate through a variety of obstacles on 2D levels. Bounce On makes intuitive use of the iPhone and iPod Touch's accelerometer, as you tilt your device left and right to roll. You tap the screen to jump--over gaps, up to platforms, and onto enemies--and the longer you hold your tap the higher you'll jump. You try to complete each level as quickly as possible, while collecting diamonds, extra lives, and power ups, and … Read more