O2 & Carphone Warehouse: More 16GB iPhones to Come

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 2:23 pm

Just recently, we wrote about O2 running out of 8GB and 16GB iPhones.

Apparently the company (o2), as well as Carphone Warehouse, will be getting more 16GB iPhones in stock within the very near future.

Currently Carphone Warehouse is reviewing the 16GB iPhone stock situation and says that more are already available at its various retail locations. O2 has also said that some of its stores already have the 16GB model in stock. Both the 16GB and 8GB models are available from Apple’s UK online store and ship in 24 hours.

(Source: iPhone Alley)

Posted in News Related, Rumors, iPhone Related No Comments »

Rumor: .Mac Relaunch to Coincide with iPhone 2.0

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 2:16 pm

According to a TUAW tipster, .Mac will undergo a complete revamp that will coincide with the iPhone 2.0 launch which is rumored to be announced at this year’s WWDC expedition. Looks like .Mac users will be getting more than just push e-mail.

It is expected that .Mc could undergo the following chances within the next month:

• Full over-the-air syncing including calendars, contacts, and email (similar to Exchange)
• .Mac syncing on Windows

This makes sense, since why would Apple make using an iPhone with Exchange a better experience than when it is paired with .Mac? If these rumors turn out to be true, then the $99 price tag on .Mac could seem a whole lot more worthwhile in the coming months.

(Source: TUAW)

Posted in Rumors No Comments »

iPhone Coming to Switzerland, Spain and Poland

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 2:12 pm

According to Fortune, Switzerland, Spain, and Poland will be getting their hands on the Apple iPhone soon enough. It was reported by Le Matin Online that Swisscom would be the official iPhone carrier for Switzerland. Going along with such rumors, Apple is apparently opening an Apple Store in Zurich in July of this year. Likewise, France Telecom stated their intention to extend coverage to “…more than just two countries” via their CFO Gervais Pellissier. In related news, French iPhone customers can expect no immediate changes, as France Telecom intends to remain the country’s exclusive carrier for the next two years.

(Source: TUAW)

Posted in News Related, Rumors, iPhone Related No Comments »

New Moleskine Versions, Crash Fix, Skins

Posted by Eric March on May 9, 2008 at 10:41 am

So there I was, in the middle of writing the next Touching Up when I started it on the Moleskine news, and I realized that I have quite a lot of news — enough to cover the next three issues, in fact. (Yes, there’s so much news that we’re that far ahead of ourselves.) So, being that there’s so much to talk about with this app, I decided to spin it off into its own article instead.

Now, I’ve gotta hand it to Databinge, they make fine applications and really stay on top of their game when it comes to fixing bugs and adding features. To begin with, 0.38b1 added the ability to import text files (only) via a related document reader known as WildEyes! (0.13b1 or greater required). Now you can finally bring text-based documents with you from your desktop and have them neatly organized and editable from within Moleskine. A video demonstration on how to do this is available here.

Now, the latest update, 0.41b2, finally adds the ability to import notes directly from the built-in Notes app, which means you can ditch the built-in notes app and use Moleskine exclusively if you so wish — or use the built-in notes app (because let’s face it, it is quick and handy) and then import it into Moleskine for proper filing and later viewing. Additional new features include a selectable font size slider in the editor, and new accelerometer functions to toggle full view while browsing or editing by tipping the device back, and toggle caps lock by tilting the device to the side while in edit mode.

The new version of Installer evidently is causing the program some grief, however.  It seems the latest Installer changes the folder ownership to root rather than mobile user, and this is causing some to experience crashing on startup — most notably those on firmware 1.1.3 or higher.  Databinge suggest manually SSHing into your device and change the permissions manually to 777 to fix this issue.

Finally, in related news, a pair of new skins are available to spiff up your virtual filing cabinet: Water, and Apixel’s Textures. Both of these are quite nice looking and really brighten up an otherwise dull stack of virtual papers.

All of this is available on Databinge’s own repo (http://repo.databinge.com), and you can view a slew of screenshots below, most of which I have had to borrow from our friends at Apple iPhone School, with a few from Just Another iPhone Blog, because I am at work (no, the other work, the one that pays me) without WiFi, I don’t have my Moleskine properly set up (What can I say? I’m not a huge mobile note taker — at least, not with notes I intend to file away), and I’d like to get this published so I can get back to the next Touching Up before I fall even further behind.

[Show as slideshow]

(Sources: Apple iPhone School [2, 3], Just Another iPhone Blog)

Posted in Application Related No Comments »

A Digg.com-Style iPhone/iPod Touch Theme

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 2:05 am

One of my most favored websites, as I’ve mentioned before, is Digg.com. The website, founded by Kevin Rose, has been around for a few years now, dating back to 2004. I joined up to the site in late 2005, but had been surfing the website well before that.

If you are not yet a member of the Digg community, or have yet to even check it out, I do suggest you do not hesitate any longer, and have a look at the phenomenal community right now.

Well, anyway, getting on the track of things, I’m writing today to tell you all about a new Digg.com-style summerboard theme that has been released just recently.

The left-most screen found above makes use of the entire websites color palette, while the right-most theme is intended to have the icons look like the yellow digg counters.

The Digg iPhone and Digg Alternate iPhone themes can be downloaded via the AppTapp Repository; repository.apptapp.com.

Also, if you do happen to be a Digg fan, we ask that you please take a minute to digg this story here.

(Source: Apple iPhone School)

Posted in Theme Related No Comments »

Air Text App Will Let You Send Free Text Messages (In the Works)

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 1:23 am

Member The Ax of the iPod Touch Fans community has released info of his upcoming iPhone/iPod Touch application he calls Air Text.

He says:

Air Text is an application that allows the iPod user control yet one more of the iPhones great features. Not as well but effective enough.

Its almost done. Im just working on the GUI, lag, and possibility to [receive] texts in the app rather than in the mail app…

Here are a couple shots he has provided:

Interesting enough. I’m sure this app will come in handy to many iPhone users.

(Source: iPod Touch Fans)

Posted in Application Related, In The Works No Comments »

Roms Repository Available, But Find the Repo Link Yourself. We Ain’t Tellin’.

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 1:16 am

iPod Touch Fans member greensleeves recently released info about a new iPhone roms repository being available to the masses.

He states:

http://iphoneroms.com is a new site that has just launch. They provide the easies and most reliable method to download NES, Genesis, SNES and GBA Roms to the iPhones and iTouch. They also have what they called “One Click ROM Upload” which allows us to upload our own roms to their repository, and as soon as we click submit the rom will be available in the repository to download using Installer. There are only 3 conditions to be met while ulpoading Roms, the Rom must end in .nes, .bin, .smd, .smc or .gba, the Rom must be in a .zip archive and there must only be one Rom per .zip file.

We refuse to share the repository link here on Touch Podium, so you will have to figure that out for yourself. Visit the thread - here - and private message the thread starter, or ask from within the thread itself.

(Source: iPod Touch Fans)

Posted in Downloads, Emulators and Roms 1 Comment »

Playing Raging Thunder iPhone/iPod Touch Game with a Stearing Wheel (Video)

Posted by Jody Mitoma on May 9, 2008 at 1:09 am

Frnkyn of the iPod Touch Fans community boards had the bright idea to slap his iPod Touch on a gaming steering wheel, giving better grip and feel to the just recently released Raging Thunder iPhone/iPod Touch game.

Have a look of him in action below (link):

Here’s what Frnkyn had to say via the iPTF’s thread:

So…uh…i got bored, so i decided to take my racing wheel for my x-box and attach my ipod to it. I tried playing, and it works! Watch the vid. And I taped my ipod to my xbox, but its a waste of tape, so i might just make a container or something.

That was a really innovative and smart idea. I like the way this guy thinks. If I still had my old Logitech computer steering wheel, I’d of definitely given this a go by now.

(Source: iPod Touch Fans)

Posted in Gaming Related, Hardware Related, Videos No Comments »

MooCowMusic Band 1.0 Released!

Posted by Eric March on May 8, 2008 at 10:38 pm

Been looking forward to Moo’s Band app? Drooling in anticipation, perhaps? Well, you can chuck the bib, because Band has officially been released. For that one or two of you who have been

vacationing in a singularity for the past few weeks, Band is an all-in-one music application that combines an assortment of instruments and effects into one package that allows you to compose music using multiple layered instruments.

There are a total of 8 instrument, effects and tools to choose from:

Audience: Crowd noise, for those that want to add a touch of that live sound to their works.
Bassist: A bass guitar with the usual scrollable fret board.
Bar Blues: Essentially a sampler geared towards blues riffs, but includes individual blues guitar notes as well as riffs and loops.
Drum Machine: A drum machine, not unlike MooCowMusic Drummer.
Funky Drummer: A sampler designed for drum loops.
Grand Piano: A two-tiered piano that offers two octaves on one screen — very handy for smooth chords.
Scratch: Not quite what I was expecting; you don’t actually spin the wax here; instead, it’s a sampler designed for scratch samples.
Metronome: For those who need a little help keeping time, there is an audible metronome you can set at a specific volume and tempo. It even supports different time signatures, so that 6/4 song you have in mind will be no problem.

Band allows you to record each instrument on its own, and then add to the whole piece instrument by instrument. There are options to erase the last note, or last 10 notes, the entire instrument, or just nuke the whole song, if things go horribly awry. There is also a mixer that allows you to pan and set the volume for each instrument individually, allowing you to master the mix, position the instruments and get it sounding just the way you want.

It isn’t perfect — there are a few things I’d love to see, such as a basic note editor/piano roll for each instrument, a quantizer, and the ability to add shuffle/swing to a single instrument or the whole song — but perhaps I’m getting ahead of Moo here. Either way, those would be tops on my wish list for Band.

The download comes in two pieces: The main Band application, and Instrument Pack 1, which are the actual instruments. Undoubtedly new instrument packs will be released at some point in the future — that’s the great thing about Band: It’s modular, so packs can be released for individual instruments, or entire themed packs can be released for the whole bundle. Did I mention that each instrument is skinnable? Because it is. You can even define where the buttons are on a given skin and what they trigger, so you aren’t required to stick to the basic layout of each instrument, giving you the freedom to create entirely new instruments. The possibilities really are limitless.

Band and its first instrument pack are available on the ModMyiFone repo (http://modmyifone.com/installer.xml), and you can check out a ream of screenshots below.

[Show as slideshow]

(Source: iPod Touch Fans)

Posted in Uncategorized No Comments »

iPortal Brings Web Apps Offline

Posted by Eric March on May 8, 2008 at 7:27 pm

So there’s a pretty wide assortment of web apps out there. The only problem is, they’re web apps. You must be connected to the net to use them, and that’s not always possible on the iPod Touch, and unless you have an unlimited data plan with your iPhone, it may not be cheap using them over EDGE, either. Such requirements are part of what keep most web apps from being used more than they are. (Another part is that many of them run like crap) So how to solve this dilemma?

Easy. Drag them, kicking and screaming, offline. But how do you do that? The PDT dev team are answering that question with iPortal, the first offline web app portal for the iPod Touch and iPhone. iPortal is designed to be a local repository for web apps that you can play anytime, anywhere, without an internet connection. At the moment, it has a nice UI, but is pretty minimal as far as its feature set goes. Currently, web apps have to be bundled with the application and cannot be installed independently and added to your collection. Additionally, there are some reporting an inability to use the application on newer firmware versions (1.1.3 and above), and some that cannot get the application to work at all. However, this is only its first release, and PDT member dwonder3 seems committed to working out the kinks and getting it working good and proper on all firmware versions.

For you intrepid early adopters who don’t mind a little legwork, you can grab it form this iPod Touch Fans thread and install it manually. (Instructions in thread)

(Source: iPod Touch Fans)