I’m not sure how long this app will stay up (Cydia rules are different than App Store rules, I’m sure) but there’s a new $1.99 app for sale on Cydia called OverBoard, and it’s an admitted copycat of Orbit — but with a few more features right out of the box. You’re still getting your money’s worth in terms of iPhone Exposé to see all of your home screens at once, but you’ve also got some other goodies. Overboard features alternative activation methods (pinch or home button), winterboard compatibility, and more screens to call home (err, extra home screens) — none of which are present in Orbit 1.0.

Steven Troughton-Smith says he already knows about OverBoard and seems to cite it as one of the reasons he has delayed Orbit 1.1, which is supposed to bring pinch and homescreen support to the app (if not more).

The two solutions are obviously very similar, but it’s not as though Steven thought the idea for Orbit up himself — even Orbit is actually based on the concept video made by Ocean Observations. I haven’t had experience with Orbit or Overboard so I can’t say what the performance differences are (if any), but it’s interesting that Cydia users now have similarly priced choices for iPhone Exposé goodness.

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: expose, Homescreen, overboard

Contrary to popular belief, COD Zombies is not a game about zombie fish, but rather zombie Nazis. You see, there’s a clubhouse of the living, of which you are the sole surviving member. The titular hordes of undead are not members of this club, so it’s up to you to dis-member them because they do not belong…and because they’re trying to eat you. Thankfully, the fortified building you’re in is filled with something else they can eat instead: hot freaking lead.
Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies was released for $9.99 a few days ago and I’m delighted to say that it’s a blast. Sure, the game really only features one level (more to come as DLC), but consumers and developers please take note: THIS is how you can make a first person shooter work on the iPhone.
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Read the rest of Review: Call of Duty: World at War: ZOMBIES (Colons much, Colonel?)

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: call of duty, first person shooter, FPS, undead, world at war, zombie

Legend Camera – one of many interesting apps that can replace or serve alongside the iPhone’s built-in camera – has had an update this week, to Version 2.0.

This app already offered a good range of features not found in the built-in camera, and here are some of this latest version’s additions:

• Night mode
• Bright picture
• Black and white mode
• Continuous shots
• Timer continuous shots

I’ve only tried out a couple of the new features so far, but I like the strong list of abilities this camera app has overall.  I am not so impressed with the time it takes to process shots – but have not yet spent a great deal of time with it.  Would love to hear what others think of this one.

You can find Legend Camera in the App Store now, priced at $0.99.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: apps that replace iPhone's camera, iPhone camera apps, Legend Camera

Very interesting to see this week’s stats from Pinch Media, showing a rise in the number of unique jailbroken users to 9.5% (the highest I can recall seeing).

I find this a little surprising after all the security scares with jailbroken iPhones and various SSH-related hacks over the last couple of weeks.

If you’re a relative newcomer to jailbreak, remember to take care with only installing / running the SSH service when you need to use it, and make sure you change your iPhone’s default admin passwords.  See our step-by-step guide HERE if you need help with that.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: jailbreak stats, Pinch Media

We have some very smart (and very cool) folks that write for us here on JAiB, who are also very knowledgeable about all things iPhone of course.  So I thought it might be fun to take a leaf out of the book of one of my favorite tech sites – Gear Diary – and do some occasional sharing of The Team’s thoughts.

Today, our topic is jailbreaking – and what makes it worthwhile, or not, for some of our contributors.  Most of us have been jailbroken at one time or another – but I think all of us recognize that it is often a tough call on whether to do it, or to maintain a jailbreak when iPhone OS updates (that break JB) come out.  Read on for some quick thoughts from several of us on this subject …

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Read the rest of Our Thoughts: On Why Jailbreaking Is / Is Not Worthwhile

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iPhone jailbreaking, is jailbreaking worthwhile

Following the recent decisions by a couple of very high-profile and well-respected iPhone developers to abandon developing for the iPhone OS – Joe Hewitt of Facebook and Rogue Amoeba – it’s pretty clear that Apple’s reputation with developers is suffering a lot because of their App Store review policies.

This morning I’ve been reading through some commentary by John Gruber at Daring Fireball and, via his mention and link, a lot of commentary by Paul Graham.  I have to admit I didn’t know of Graham before this morning, but his Bio is very impressive.  And his thoughts on the App Store and how much damage Apple is doing to its reputation among developers are worrying if you’re a fan of the iPhone platform. 

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Read the rest of Recommended: Some Choice Words on How Broken The App Store Review Process Is

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App Store stupid decisions, Apple

To help aid people’s Thanksgiving week travels, Navigon has announced a sale on their MobileNavigator iPhone app and the new Traffic Live feature. Navigon is the premier iPhone turn-by-turn navigation app, including on-device maps of the entire North American continent (versions for other continents are also available on the App Store).

For 10 days only, from November 20, 2009 to November 30, 2009, you can now purchase Navigon MobileNavigator in the US App Store for only $69.99 (a $20 savings off the regular price of $89.00), and the Traffic Live add-on on-time purchase has been reduced to $14.99 (a $10 savings off the regular price of $24.99), for a grand total of $30 savings! For only $85, you can get the entire Navigon iPhone navigation solution including live traffic conditions – but only until November 30!
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Read the rest of Save $30.00 on Navigon MobileNavigator and Traffic Live for 1 Week Only!

© joshgard for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: navigation apps, Navigon, traffic, turn-by-turn voice-guided GPS apps for iPhone

Holy crap, now this is a shocker. I knew that Telus and Bell had made their own HSPA+ network for the iPhone 3GS, but I had no idea that it didn’t support any kind of EDGE signal. Heck, not even GPRS. This means that the moment walk into an area without 3G coverage (or turn the 3G radio off for battery conservation), you are going dark as far as the “Bellus” network is concerned. At that point it’s wi-fi or nothing — and official App Store users don’t even have Google Voice to cover them anymore .

I actually think this could be a dealbreaker for me, despite how much I hate being stuck on Rogers. iPhoneinCanada is saying that the Bell/Telus network is actually faster on 3G than Rogers’ (and there’s even a law suit about this, to boot), but I really couldn’t give less of a crap about speed if I had to deal with my iPhone’s signal actually dying without 3G.

This isn’t a rant about coverage, though. I don’t have any hard evidence about how well the two networks stack up and it might still be too early to tell. My focus is on the lack of 2G support. I’ve actually made it a habit to turn off 3G when I’m out for long periods to save battery, and I rely on EDGE to keep me up to date on e-mails in these cases. Having no alternate signal to fall back on when I toggle that 3G switch off just isn’t an option for me – not until iPhones come with 4000mAh batteries inside their soft candy shells, anyway.

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2G, 3G, bell, Canada, canadian, Edge, GSM, HSPA+, iphone carrier, telus

Acrobits, the company behind the excellent voice-over-IP iPhone app, Softphone, is celebrating their 1 year anniversary. In celebration of this achievement, which is a great achievement considering how difficult the iPhone app development world is these days, Acrobits has provided us with 10 (that’s right – TEN!) promo codes to give away!

Wait! There’s more! In addition to giving away ten promo codes for Softphone, I should bring to your attention that for anyone who is looking to get this app and who doesn’t win a code, Acrobits has dropped the price of Softphone from $6.99 down to only $2.99 during their anniversary sale (app store link). But this low price won’t last long, so make sure to grab it up now while it’s cheaper! That is if you don’t win a free copy from us!

If you’re not familiar with Acrobits Softphone, check out my review from earlier this fall here. Basically, Softphone is an app that allows you to make voip calls using an existing SIP account from your iPhone over a wifi connection. Incoming calls to your SIP number (if enabled) are pushed to Softphone using push notifications.

Contest Deadline: Saturday, November 21, 2009 5:00pm US Pacific Time.

Details after the break…

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Read the rest of Happy Birthday To Acrobits – 10 FREE PROMO CODES FOR SOFTPHONE TO GIVE AWAY!

© joshgard for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: acrobits, contests, sip, softphone, telephony apps, VOIP apps, VOIP on iPhone, wifi calling

Seven Free Promo Codes for Lexic for iPhone To Be Won

Contest Deadline: Friday November 20, 10:00pm US Central

I like Lexic a lot, and I figure you might, too, so I’ve got seven copies of the game to give away courtesy of the Kieffer Bros. The game just received a cool little update that adds a new control method (tap to select) and weekly/monthly leaderboards so you can see how much your vocabulary pales in comparison to the top scorers out there.

Hit the jump for details on how to win one of the best word games out there…

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Read the rest of Lexic 2.1 Promo Code Contest – Win a copy of this kickass iPhone word game

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: contest, giveaway, promo code, word game

Tumblr’s iPhone app, also called Tumblr, was updated to version 1.1 today. Now while a .1 update would generally signify bug fixes or a minor update, in this instance Tumblr 1.1 actually includes several major new features. If you have a Tumblr site and an iPhone, you can’t go wrong with this free, but very well done app.

For those who aren’t familiar with Tumblr, it is the major player in the “mini-blog” or “tumblelog” market right now, competing with Posterous. Mini-blogging is a step between “micro-blogging” (ie. Twitter, FriendFeed) and traditional blogging (ie WordPress, Blogspot, this site, etc.). Mini-blogging is typically short, frequent, mixed-media posts with little or no narrative. The idea is to quickly share some form of media in a way that’s more than a Twitter post but not quite a full blog post.

This update does indeed include various bug fixes, but it also brings the iPhone app closer to the full web experience. iPhone 3GS owners can now post videos using the app. Editing past posts is now possible from the iPhone, as is the ability to specify tags for posts, publish a post as a draft, private, or even schedule it for later. Previously, a “draft” post was local to the iPhone until published. Now, when you “publish” as a draft, it is saved up to your Tumblr account as a draft, ready to be edited and/or published later.

More screen shots and a list of all the new features are after the break.

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Read the rest of Tumblr iPhone App Update – Minor Version Number Change, Lots Of New Features!

© joshgard for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iphone blogging apps, mini-blogging, Social Networking, tumblelog, tumblr

Forget about how good the Safari browser may be – soon we’ll have teh internets on our iPhones. More specifically, we’ll have teh internets – Attack of the Memes, which is described quite simply and humbly by its creators as THE MOST EXCITING IPHONE GAME EVER.

I’ve seen a video trailer for the game, and I really can’t dispute their claim at all

Hit the break for a little more detail on this very funny (and most exciting ever) game …

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Read the rest of Coming Soon to the iPhone: teh internets

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: teh internets - Attack of the Memes, teh internets iPhone game

After having been absent from the App Store for a few weeks, iGmail came back all of a sudden last night and its new price (FREE) probably explains its absence. When I first reviewed iGmail it cost $2.99 and the remarkable thing about it was the extra large text-entry area and full-screen support for the browser-based Gmail app. Google has since released an update to the Gmail interface to allow for auto-adjusting text entry boxes and much easier scrolling in long e-mails, which means that the original iGmail client only had one major advantage left: full screen mode and left-orientation lock (see review for details).

iGmail 2.1 isn’t without a couple of new features (aside from the new price, which likely takes advantage of this), but I can’t help but feel as though some customers were misled by the older iGmail app description. I believe the old description talked about Google Apps support coming in 1.4, but as far as I know, the app jumped straight from 1.x to 2.1. I can’t state that as a fact because I’m basing this on memory and the comments on my initial iGmail review, but if this is true, then some people will actually have paid $5.00 for the ability to use iGmail with their accounts — $2.99 for the initial 1.0 release price and then $1.99 for the in-app purchase of Google Apps support in 2.1. The two other notable features in the app are PUSH notifications for $0.99 (more on this later) and the it’s-about-bloody-time fix of the Offline mode which just wouldn’t work before.

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Read the rest of iPhone App Update and Ressurection: iGmail 2.1 adds paid PUSH notifications and paid Google Apps support

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: App update, full screen, gmail browser, igmail

Ever wish you could change your voice to something more fun? Well, now you can with Voices.

That’s the basic premise behind the new Voices app for iPhone or, to give it it’s full App Store tile, Voices – fun voice morphing.  The app is quite simple, as you’d expect, but also quite a lot of fun.

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Read the rest of Voices – Slick, Fun Voice Morphing App for iPhone

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: iphone apps, iPhone entertainment apps, Voices - fun voice morphing iPhone app

My daughter and I are both fans of the Wallace and Gromit animated films, and we were excited to spot some new Wallace and Gromit comics in the App Store recently. There are four new Wallace and Gromit comic apps that have been released this month – and we recently had a look at Wallace and Gromit: Digital Comic #4, Where There’s Muck There’s Brass.

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Read the rest of Quick Look: Wallace and Gromit on the iPhone

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Wallace and Gromit iPhone comics, Wallace and Gromit on the iPhone

They are the Brothers Kieffer, gaming alchemists both, and they have reached another breakthrough in their Lexic word game formula. I know this because Old Man App Store told me so last night. He said to me, “You there, Canadian dragon kid, download you this 2.1 update to benefit from new tap-to-touch controls, achieve three new feats, and deflate your ego by viewing the weekly and monthly leaderboards – the heights of which you will never reach.”

There you have it, folks. Old Man App Store might be weird and a little rude, but he’s right about the update.

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: puzzle, Update, word game

Verizon (in red) and AT&T (in blue) 3G Coverage

desperate:

1. Being filled with, or in a state of despair; hopeless.
2. Reckless abandon in the pursuit of an extreme desire.

Re-read number 2 again, if you will.   I’ll wait.

Thanks.   That definition perfectly defines AT&T’s recent legal action against Verizon seeking a temporary restraining order against Verizon’s latest round of commercials; commercials in which Verizon points out that they have five times the amount of 3G coverage throughout the United States.   In reading the original complaint and Verizon’s answer, one is left to wonder how AT&T ever thought that they might prevail in court; my short list of possible scenarios began with “pay off the judge” and went downhill from there.

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Read the rest of Op/Ed: 3G Coverage, Lawsuits, and You

© JoeT for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Let us for a minute consider time zones.   A necessary evil to be sure, but frustrating for those who either travel far away or who need to communicate with those who are.   What time is it in Jakarta?   Does Iraq observe daylight savings time?   I need to call home at 7am, what time will that be in London?

Helping deal with this problem is Clocks – Multi Time Zone Alarm Clock by Rosebrae Technology; which aims to be more than your average clock solution.  Here’s a quick look to see if it lives up to its billing.

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Read the rest of Quick Review: Clocks – Multi Time Zone Alarm Clock for iPhone/iPod Touch

© JoeT for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

We are pleased to announce the JAiB iSing Idol contest.

In true “American Idol“ style, this is a chance to showcase your talent using iSing, a unique app that presents your singing talents to a worldwide audience.

To enter, use iSing to record a 30 second clip of a song of your choice, fill out a few personal details about yourself and upload the clip to the app server.

The winning entry will be the one with the highest rating at the end of the competition period, so get your friends voting for your entry! How does that part work? You can either vote directly on a selected clip or listen to the whole recording and give it your thumbs up or thumbs down.

Read on for more:

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Read the rest of Announcing “JAiB iSing Idol” talent contest

© aliciabankhofer for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Although I realize that there are probably plenty of not-so-high-quality entries in the Books category, I still find this an encouraging bit of research to see:

One out of every five new applications introduced for the iPhone last month was a book, according to Flurry, a research firm that studies mobile trends.

I find I do more and more reading on the iPhone and that there are more and more good types of reading material available all the time – from standalone ebooks to ebook readers, audio book readers, a ‘vook’ just recently and more.  I’d certainly rather see a flood of books hit the store each month than more ‘hot bikini girls from Mars’ type apps.

Source: New York Times via jkOnTheRun

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: books on iPhone

Image Source: IntoMobile.com

“It was theirs to lose and they lost it,” said Raven Zachary, a technology analyst and owner of iPhone app development house Small Society. “They had everything they needed to execute, to do the right kinds of carrier deals to create an app store, create visual voice mail, touchscreens and so on. They’ve been in this space since the beginning.”

That’s just a little slice from a good post at Wired on how far Microsoft has fallen in the mobile arena.  Despite an 11 year head start over the iPhone, they now have less than half the global market share of the iPhone in the smartphone market.

Check out the full post HERE for some insight on how MS has managed to fail so miserably in this space and why it may not be over for them just yet.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: smartphone market share, smartphone marketplace, Windows Mobile

I’ve seen a fair number of press releases and write-ups for iPhone apps, but never one that started out quite like this before:

LET IT RIP – NEW APP FOR LADIES COVERS IT UP!
Appetizer Mobile’s ‘Cover Up’ Conceals Unwanted Noise in the Restroom

Definitely not just another silly iPhone fart app we’ve got here I guess – although that ‘Let It Rip’ bit may suggest otherwise.  Hit the jump for more of the app’s description and a link to its classic video trailer …

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Read the rest of Great App Tag Lines: LET IT RIP – NEW APP FOR LADIES COVERS IT UP!

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cover Up iPhone app

love the stainless steel and carbon fiber look

One of my favourite new toys isn’t one I received or bought for review — it’s a combo of two items I was previously given for review: the GorillaTube and the Shift Rivet Clip. I previously wrote that I was looking for a low-profile belt holster, and I think this little combo (stuck together with the Rivet’s M3 adhesive) might just be the ticket. The M3 sticker is actually so strong that I can pull the Gorilla and Shift clip off of my belt without ripping the adhesive.  I may still add the super glue to the back to really seal the deal, but the Rivet Clip is stuck so well in place I may never have to.
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Read the rest of Rivet Clip + GorillaTube = iPhone holster — still crazy awesome after all of one week

© Ragart for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: belt holster, gorillatube, iphone case, rivet clip

Paper Toss – a long-time favorite free game for me – has had another update, to Version 1.3.  The two big additions in the new version are: adverts within the app and a brand new level – a Basement level.

The new ads are pretty bold and noticeable, but I don’t object to them as this app has always been free and it’s always been very good.  It could easily have exploited its popularity and gone paid-for a long while ago.

And the devs tossed in a new level to go with the ads – so I’m more than happy with the trade-off.

Paper Toss’ latest version is in the App Store now, and it’s still a free app.

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Paper Toss iPhone app

AppMiner – one of my favorite apps that help you find great apps (hidden gems, apps on sale / gone free etc) – has had a recent update and added several quite nice new features.  Some notable additions to Version 3.0 include:

• Buzz – see an app’s web coverage and search for more
• More By – shows other apps by the same developer
• Themes – change the look and feel of the app
• Lists – manage multiple lists of apps

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Read the rest of AppMiner for iPhone Updated – Adds Buzz, Themes, Lists & More

© PatrickJ for Just Another iPhone Blog, 2009. | Permalink | | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: