apps

10 (more) absurd iPhone apps

It's been just a month since the App Store hit the streets, and the number of applications has skyrocketed. That doesn't mean they're all winners though. The vast majority are downright useless, buggy, or simply overpriced. Heck, some have even been removed by Apple because of all-around lameness. Since our inaugural list of absurd iPhone apps was a big hit, we've picked another group of 10 that are even more absurd than the first ones.

Note: this list is not the same as the version that was published Monday afternoon. Glagow Coma Scale has been replaced with 40 Cozy's Pour1out in light of creator Brent Thompson's comment about the people it's helped. That's not so absurd.

1. GottaGo Price: $1.99 This is one of those apps you hope is some sort of sick joke. Designed to get you out of a bad date or an awkward conversation, you can use GottaGo to ring you up with a fake phone call that looks real to your unsuspecting date. All you have to do is set the time like you would an alarm and it will call you, with faked caller ID and everything.

Why it's absurd: Be a decent human being and tell someone when it's just not working. They'll probably respect you more and it'll tie things up better than trying to explain why your apartment being on fire means you'll have to skip dessert.

2. DrinkBuddy Price: $3.99 Having trouble figuring out if you're drunk or not? Why not use your phone? Instead of a breathalyzer, DrinkBuddy uses the ancient art of math to give you generally precise indications of how inebriated you are based on what you've had to drink. Better yet, you can link up with your friends and see what they've had to drink, and record your past benders in a log that can be e-mailed to friends.

Why it's absurd: A night out is fun, but mass quantities of liquids and $200-plus handsets do not mix. Also, the fact that you could accidentally e-mail your mom at 2 a.m. with your J?germeister exploits seems like a really, really bad idea.

3. 40Cozy.com's Pour1out Price: $2.99 We've seen the popular Carling iPint, which was later pulled from the US app store--at least that one had a game attached to it. This one by the folks at 40Cozy.com is a dressed up way to sell foam coolers for 40 ouncers of malt liquor, while letting you pour our virtual booze with a simple tip of your phone.… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 785: Don't cross the Olympic streams

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Straight from the horse's mouth: Apple's iPhones do indeed have the capability to check for, and potentially defang, software that Apple deems unfit for the iPhone.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed the existence of the so-called "kill switch" capability, following last week's ruckus over early reports of just such a function. The word from Jobs was tucked at the bottom of a story in The Wall Street Journal about Apple's hot-as-a-pistol first month of sales at its App Store.

The intent behind the capability is high-minded, Jobs said. Apple would need it in case … Read more

Jobs on iPhone apps: $30 million in 30 days

In a variation on the new math, 2.0 plus 3G equals $30 million now and about $360 million next summer.

Or in plain English: Apple has raked in about $30 million in sales of iPhone applications in the one month since the company opened its App Store and brought the iPhone 3G onto the market, CEO Steve Jobs told The Wall Street Journal. Jobs also sees big numbers ahead, if Apple continues its current pace of selling an average of $1 million worth of applications per day.

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Build a better photoblog this weekend with Pixelpost 1.7.1

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Apple boots $1,000 app from App Store

The $1,000 application on Apple's App Store, which lets people know how rich you are simply for buying it, has been removed without explanation, making some developers wonder what it takes for Apple to pull the plug.

The "I am Rich" application developed by Armin Heinrich, a German software developer, does nothing more than display a picture of a red ruby on the iPhone screen. After initially approving the $1,000 application, Apple removed it from the store this week. Eight people managed to dish out $1,000 to buy the useless application, generating about $5,… Read more

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iPhone can phone home and kill apps?

Apple has apparently included a blacklisting mechanism in iPhone OS 2.x through which the device can phone home, check for unauthorized applications, and disable them. The OS includes a URL that points to a page containing a list of unauthorized applications, specifically those listed here.

According to Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the book iPhone Open Application Development and an iPhone forensics manual:

This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off. At the moment, no apps have been blacklisted, but by all appearances, this has been added to … Read more

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