iPhone Download World

AT&T iPhone 4 Review: How’s it stack up now?

Posted by AndrewFomera on November 2, 2011 09:06 pm 1

Note: I wrote this with a high level of influence from Josh’s iPhone 4S Review and I wrote it as if I was a vergester writing a review on the iPhone 4 in the current market. I was going to add more photos… but I can’t put them in a fancy manner like the Verge Crew can.. so I limited it for everyone 🙂

In a world where cellphone makers and other people have to constantly innovate it’s a tight arena where everyone is in a battle for consumers, companies must constantly innovate for the money of the people.

Released in June 2010, it’s one of the older phones still selling on the market today. Heck, if you think about it, it’s still one of the bestselling phones on the market. Granted it was introduced again in February 2011 for Verizon, which certainly helped to fuel the sale of it.

So how does it compare to other phones on the market now that it’s over a year old? Let’s dive right in!

Hardware/Design

Introduced as an all new design with glass fronts and back, it was certainly a step up from the iPhone 3GS. The volume switch on the side is easily accessible due to the smooth flat side of the phone, and the rounded separate buttons for the volumes are easily within reach while using the phone.

When holding the phone in my left hand, it’s natural to use just my left index finger to change the volume as my finger tends to rest there. The recessed home button is the same classic button you’ll find on all the previous models of the iPhone.

and Yes: my phone has been well used.. and is rather torn up. It’s not the most durable phone, but consider I drop it nearly three or four times every day, it doesn’t have many major blemishes other than a few nicks and scratches.

Internals

Starting with available storage for music, apps and other things you’ll find now days you can get the iPhone 4 in 8gb directly from Apple and the carriers. however, you may still be able to find the versions of the iPhone 4 with 16gb and 32gb of storage on eBay. my phone is a 16gb version and it tends to be enough for my “light” music library (around 4gb) and around 2gb in Apps and app data.

Moving on, to one of the more important features of the phone, is the phone antenna. my phone is an AT&T Model so it has a GSM Antenna band around the edge… and yes the “death grip” can certainly be seen here if you hold it that way. but yes, the 3G band for AT&T works well, and my speeds are fair enough when used on AT&T’s network.

The iPhone 4 has Apple’s own A4 Processor, which was the first phone to have Apple’s own design for the chip which helps to focus on power conservation yet still providing a powerful experience to consumers. alongside the A4 Processor you’ll find 512mb of RAM, the same that you’ll find in the new iPhone 4S, but double what was in the iPhone 3GS (256mb) .

Oh and one more thing, the Retina display screen is still one of the most beautiful displays out of any phone on the market, only matched by Apple with the next generation iPhone 4S. It provides a 326 pixels per inch (which is more than any human eye can see).

Camera

The camera sports a 5 megapixel back camera (with flash) and a VGA Front camera, which provide an adequate camera experience while “on the go”, granted the front camera isn’t good for much other than Facetime, or the hair check in the morning. The back camera will record in 720p up to 30 frames a second with audio, which was one of the first phones to do so.

One of the reasons the iPhone 4 camera is so good when compared to other phones with the same megapixel camera is due to the fact the iPhone 4 has a bigger sensor which lets more light in which results in a better picture quality.

Unfortunately, there are phones now on the market which provide a better point-to-shoot experience than the iPhone 4, but for a phone that’s nearly 2 years old, it’s crazy to think that it went nearly unmatched for so long. (granted, it may be my fanboy-ism coming out here.. but I didn’t think nearly any phone ever beat it until recently)

via lh6.googleusercontent.com

via lh5.googleusercontent.com

Just a few shots I took with the iPhone 4’s camera. I think those are my two favorite photos that I recently took.. but once again I think it depends partly on what you take a photo of and the settings.

Reception / call Quality

Wow is really the word to sum up all of this. when it was introduced in 2010 as an all new antenna design there were enormous expectations for it, and to be honest, it didn’t live up to all of them. While I noticed significant improvements over the 3GS’s call quality and reception there was a major issue with the “antennagate” crisis where if you held the two bands at the bottom the bars would drop significantly.

Apple announced a free case program in July of 2010 which provided a free case to iPhone 4 owners who raised concerns (this program lasted a few months but is now over) with the issue. I never experienced the death grip issue with my phone in all the time I’ve had it (since June 2010) but then again I’ve always had a case on it except for the rare moments it’s been out for cleaning.

So yeah, as for download speeds… it’s not as fast as the newer 4S and other phones but I still find my phone pulling things up faster than other phones on AT&T and other networks.. Though your network speeds may vary from region to region. (Mine up here in Northwest Missouri is 3G but my upload speeds are around 1.5mb and download is around 1.1mbps which makes me sad) but in other metropolitan areas I have decent speeds. again, it depends on the backhaul of the network and the congestion in the area on the towers. (sad fact of life)

I will occasionally drop calls on my iPhone 4, but it’s around 80% AT&T’s fault… which is just something I put up with because I’m grandfathered into the Unlimited plan.

Battery Life

Ah, the one thing I wish I could change about my phone. Apple has done reasonably well with all of their phones with Battery Life and ensuring they have great power conservation. I manage to get around 5.5 hours of heavy use out of it before it’s time for me to plug it up. (and that’s talking like hard use, Texting, iPod on, heavy App usage, using Safari, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on etc). oh, and I also have the screen on full brightness.

Apple totes 7 hours of 3G talk time, 14 hours of 2G talk time, up to 300 hours of standby time, 6 hours of internet usage on 3G or 10 hours on Wi-Fi. While my usage is well below what Apple says, I’m one of the heavy users of my phone. It’s always on and it’s always by my side, constantly pushing for email, checking apps like Facebook or on Safari with an occasional phone call or so.

There has been days I’ve been up at 5am and managed to conserve my battery life until around 11:30pm that night, but it took tough preservation on both my part and the phone’s settings.

The iPhone 4S actually adds another hour of talk time, but loses an hour of Wi-Fi browsing time, maybe due to the A5 Chip inside, but recently there have been reports of issues with terrible battery life due to possibly a location checking bug. Apple announced on 11/2/11 that a fix for it would be coming within a few weeks.

Software

The iOS 5 update brought with it a large number of changes which, depending on your preferences are a good thing. Something important to note: you won’t find Siri on the iPhone 4.

I believe that Siri is one of the only features that sets the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 apart (someone correct me if I’m wrong please!) Granted, Siri is a major selling point to the 4S but people looking for a good phone instead of a great phone will do fine without it (trust me, I’m getting by just fine without it.)

Also new with iOS 5 was the Notification Center – Easy access to all the notifications and swipe to the right to reply/go to access. This is a big thing that I find useful especially with the Weather widget. I find myself actually checking the weather more with the widget. I turned off the stock one in the options because I just frankly don’t follow the stocks.

The software brought tons of improvements to the phone, many unnoticeable until you really get into it… but Apple dubbed this release when iOS really went “PC Free”. This is because of iCloud and all the work the Apple Engineers have done. you no longer have to plug up to a computer to sync your music, photos, documents, contacts and so forth. Just turn on iCloud and bam, your stuff will be on a new device if you get one and elect to restore from an iCloud backup.

I use iCloud to sync my Calendar (well, what little is on it) and my Contacts. my contacts are my life and if anything were to happen to that.. well I’d be hurting.

Also new is Wi-Fi syncing, which I do not use, so I’m quickly going to sum it up. If your phone is plugged in and charging on the same Wi-Fi network your computer is on it’ll sync over Wi-Fi. I think you may only be able to choose one on if you want to sync to iCloud or your iTunes, so it is really a preference here if you want it in the cloud or on your computer.

Another quick note on iCloud, they give you 5gb of space for free with more space available for purchase. I did not realize how quickly apps took up the space with iCloud and I’ve almost ran out of space, but you can choose which apps get to use iCloud’s space and you can turn that off in the Settings.

Wrap up

So how does it all end up? If you’ve got an iPhone 3GS or another phone from a previous generation and you’ll looking to upgrade to another phone here is what I recommend: Upgrade to the iPhone 4S if you’re looking to get an iPhone.

If you don’t mind being stuck with a phone that’s almost two years old for another two or so years in a contract then the iPhone 4 is a great phone for 99$ with a new contract (mind you, it’s only 8gb) but you COULD always find a used phone on eBay off contract. (or even if you’re looking to get a phone for a kid or something, the iPhone 4 has that sleek sexy look of the iPhone 4S with half the price)

Personally, I’m sticking it with my well-used iPhone 4 until the big A announces the iPhone 5 (or whatever it is!). I’m not making the upgrade because in reality even though Apple updated the processor, gave it some more battery and added Siri, the iPhone 4 is still a great phone.

AT&T iPhone 4S Unlock With No Software, No Hardware, No Jailbreak (Video) – Mobile Magazine

We’ve been fooled before, but at least this new method won’t cost you any money, at least not directly. a video has appeared on YouTube that apparently shows how you can unlock the iPhone 4S from AT&T and use it with T-Mobile USA… or any GSM carrier for that matter.

The fascinating thing about this unlocking method is that you don’t need to use any specialized software or get any specific hardware to do the hack. You just need the original AT&T SIM and a target (T-Mobile) SIM, though the latter has to be cut to micro-SIM size to fit the slot in the iPhone 4S. it will reportedly also work with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS from AT&T too.

1. Insert original carrier AT&T SIM card2. Dial 611 for AT&T customer service hotline and drop the call3. Turn on Airplane Mode4. take out AT&T SIM card5. Insert T-Mobile SIM card6. Make sure WiFi is off ( also tap on ‘Forget this Network” to make sure it doesn’t connect automatically later)7. Switch off Airplane Mode and iPhone will search for network. This is followed by the Apple splash screen appearing.8. Activation Required will be displayed on the screen9. EDGE network will activate automatically – notice the ‘E’ on the top left corner of the screen10. Wait for about 20-30 seconds and turn off the phone11. Turn on iPhone and the same Activation Required screen will be displayed12. When you see one signal bar, tap on use Cellular Connection13. Eject SIM card14. Activation Required screen will be displayed the second time15. Insert SIM card16. Unlocked!

Not many reports of this being successful are coming in. it sounds very similar to the old xbox disc swap trick. But the only way to have a real jailbreak at this time is with a software carrier unlock or Gevey SIM.

Review: Looxcie 2 personal video recorder – Cell Phones & Mobile Device Technology News & Updates

Smartphones have changed the way we handle many situations in our day-to-day lives. Soccer practice, an unfriendly run in with police, catching that moment when your best friend proposes to his future wife… all moments that can be quickly snapped and saved with the high quality smartphone-based cameras that are out nowadays. the problem, however, is usually getting there in time or, even worse, ruining the moment by pulling out a phone. so, what if you were already wearing the camera, and all you had to do was tap to start recording? the team behind the Looxcie personal recording device either had extremely altruistic or extremely devious plans in mind when they made the Looxcie 2.

What is it?

The Looxcie 2 is a Bluetooth headset. at least, it looks like a Bluetooth headset. It does actually allow you to make and receive calls over Bluetooth like any other headset, but that is far from its purpose. Tap the record button on your Looxcie 2 and you have a device that is capable of capturing the audio and video around you for at least 60 minutes. To complete the creepiness/secret camera motif, Looxcie has made an iPhone and Android app that allows you to use your phone as the viewfinder for the camera, as well as start and stop recording from the app. the headset offers a small red light under the lens that turns on when it is recording, but you are otherwise unaware that the device is recording.

The Looxcie actually has some really cool features, and you can purchase a number of additional accessories that will allow you to mount the recording device in a place that is not your ear. You can mount it in your car, snap it onto the bill of your hat, even attach it to your bike or helmet. in fact, we stuck a Looxcie inside the helmet of a motorcyclist at night to see just how well it would do..

As you can see, 480p is the best you will get out of this camera, but the Looxcie kept up with the ride with no problems at all. This is difficult to see from the viewfinder app, since the video is transferred to the phone via Bluetooth you only see about one in every three or four frames. If you are using the app, understand that the actual video will be much better.

More fun with Looxcie

Looxcie works great if you want to strap it to you and wander about, but it also does an even better good job as a camera you can mount somewhere close by and remotely activate with the app. We recorded a video of a local folk group, Gael in the Harbor, with the Looxcie 2 and a fisheye lens that you can magnetically attach to the Looxcie 2. This lens is one of two that you can buy from the company, but I will note that the magnetic ring that you fasten to the camera covers the red recording light.

The mic on the Looxcie is OK for conversations up close, but as you can see from the video doesn’t do such a great job further than 10 feet away. that distance is, coincidentally, the range of the Bluetooth before it starts to disconnect. If you are connected to a Looxcie with your phone and give the command to record, when you disconnect from the device it will continue recording.

When your Looxcie is full, it’s very easy to connect to your computer via MicroUSB and transfer the files off of the device. the files are perfect to upload straight to Youtube or keep for yourself, easy to view on all video players. the on board storage will get you a little over an hour of record time combined, and you cane have as many individual files as you want, Looxcie will name them numerically for organization.

Final Thoughts

The Looxcie 2 is extremely cool, in my opinion. It could benefit from having a better mic, more storage, and maybe the ability to record in HD, but there is no denying that the Looxcie is fun to use if you can remember to bring yet another gadget along with you. the Looxcie 2 does a great job recording video, but there’s no function to take pictures, which I think is a serious oversight. that said, this is without a doubt a device that could get you into trouble if you decide to use your powers for evil.

For $150 for the base kit, you’d have to have a pretty specific need in mind to pick one up, but I have a had trouble imagining anyone not having fun with this camera.

Burger Mania

Love at first play! I could not put this one down. This was one of the top free iPhone apps that I saw listed several times and just couldn’t bring myself to download it. I eventually gave in and finished the entire game the first night. I was incredibly disappointed that there weren’t more boards and levels to complete.

The main objective of the game is to simply feed your customers. they arrive in groups of three and each has a different order to purchase. at first the game starts out rather slowly, the first couple of levels you are only required to make a burger slowly adding in some toppings in different levels such as onions, tomatoes, lettuce and of course the cheese. But just like with every other burger joint, you may want some soda, fries and of course the ice cream.

You start off your adventure in Brazil tackling the hungry and then you move on to the USA and three other countries shortly after. Each country has about ten levels of gameplay each level gets slightly more challenging but that’s the best part. it becomes more difficult to keep the customers happy and to get them out the door quickly without getting them angered, which has happened quite a few times. I have had a sword and a gun pointed at me all over a late cheeseburger.

Some may request burgers, others chicken patties, some want fries and others would be happy with just a soda and an ice cream but no two customers like it the same. the real challenge is knowing when to get things cooking without burning them. Burnt burgers means going back to the drawing board and even though you can serve the fries burnt, it lowers your star value once you complete the level.

Throughout the duration of the game you can only cook two burgers or two chicken patties, or a combination of the two, at any given time. You start off only being able to pre-fill drinks one at a time but soon it goes to two and then free and you can add in the shake as well. at first you can only make one thing of fries at time too but as the game progresses more slots become available. it didn’t take me too long to realize that making fries and shakes was time consuming and you had to get a head start on them or risk being shot, literally!

There’s not too much more to be said about this game other than you should just download it and enjoy. I have told my friends and family and when I’m playing I can’t be bothered, no seriously, I can’t be bothered or I get some very angry customers. Pausing the game seems to throw me off so I have to stay focused during the levels. I have totally been enjoying Burger Mania, I can’t wait for an update and have been looking for one every day since I finished playing but still nothing.

Price: $0.99 (This was FREE for Monster Free Apps users. Save $$ and download MFA now!)

Burger Mania Screen Shot

iOS 5.0.1 For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch can be jailbroken with Redsn0w

For the jailbreakers among you, you’ll be happy to hear that iOS 5.0.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch can indeed be jailbroken with Redsn0w. RedmondPie has tested and confirmed that Apple’s latest version of iOS 5 can be tether-jailbreaked by using the latest version of Redsn0w. Redmond does note that the “SemiTether” patch continues to work, but iOS 5.0.1 “will not function to a satisfactory degree” on devices using SemiTether until users connect to Redsn0w on a Mac or PC.

Jailbreaking is best left to the more experienced, tech-savvy users, but if you’re feeling adventurous, RedmondPie has all the details on how to jailbreak your Apple device running the very latest iOS release.

Facebook Breaks the Marketing Sound Barrier for Small Business

A recent Capital One TV ad features comedian Jimmy Fallon politely asking a somewhat indifferent baby boy in a high chair: “Would you like 50% more cash? Everybody likes more cash!” Convinced no one could possibly refuse such an offer, much to Jimmy’s surprise, the kid responds by tossing a handful of Cheerios in Jimmy’s face. So when it comes to your small business, ask yourself: Do you want more leads? Do you want more sales? Do you want more customers? if the answer is “yes”, you need a dynamic business Facebook page.

The Future of Business is Social

Marketing guru, Seth Godin, says: “If you wait until there is another case study in your industry, you’ll be too late.” Today, it is all about real-time marketing. according to Hub Spot, a leading Internet marketing company, among SMBs who actively use social media marketing to promote their business, 70% rank Facebook no. 1. although, half of US SMBs say social media sites play an important role in active sales, a significant number are still unwilling to play in the social media space. whether you’re new to Facebook, somewhat engaged or an advanced user, this blog provides tips on how to get more from Facebook.

New to Facebook for business?

Facebook is the oldest and largest online social networking site that connects people and organizations. With about 800 million users, Facebook is bigger than the whole Internet was in 2004, the year Facebook was founded.

Start by downloading this amazing free e-book from HubSpot: how to use Facebook for Business: an Introductory Guide for 2011.

Be careful not to launch a Facebook page just for the sake of having a “Facebook page”. the social landscape is littered with as many failed Facebook pages as there are forgotten websites.

Questions small business owners should answer before creating a Facebook page

What is your target audience?
What are your goals, e.g., engagement, leads, drive sales, brand awareness?
Evaluate your marketing options. Is maintaining a business Facebook page a good use of your time and energy?
Do you have sufficient resources to maintain the page?
What messages would you share through Facebook pages that are not available to prospects through other marketing efforts?

Ready to kick it up a notch? 10 ways to get more from FacebookEarn attention with a rewarding customer experience

Keep in mind, your small business is competing for your audience’s attention. Consumers are exposed to hundreds of ads every day and it is getting harder for a small business to stand-out. You can’t buy attention, but you can earn it if you provide your community with a rewarding customer experience. Social media guru, Chris Brogan, talks about the importance of getting your community interested in what you want to talk about. according to Chris, once your community believes that “you’re out for their own good, you can make offers that might be of use to them.” Building trust in your community can lead to incremental sales.

A magnetic fan page earns “Likes”

Creating a great fan page helps rack up “Likes” and connects customers. Email your Facebook page link to customers and prospects with incentives to “Like” your page. Promote your Facebook page on your website, blog, LinkedIn, Google+, and offline.

The killer app for Facebook is indeed “apps”

Many free and custom apps are available to fit your business. You will find that Facebook is an excellent information source. While you’re there, check out a short video that puts it all into perspective. for more ideas, check out Jeff Bullas’ 5 top Facebook Apps to Market your Business and Brand.

Tracking – the final frontier

Facebook offers some powerful tools to measure your success. With Facebook Insights, get information on page views, wall posts, users, feedback, Likes, comments and much more. Facebook Insights can help determine the most popular content sections on your page.

The battle of the high tech all stars begins

One thing is certain. Facebook will continue to evolve as it strives to repel strong competition from Google+, the new social networking site launched in June. In the very near future, Google is expected to announce Google+ brand pages to compete with Facebook. Stay tuned for more and (when available) be prepared to move quickly to capture the Google+ vanity URL for your small business!

If Jimmy Fallon were to ask you: “Do you want more cash?” your answer, no doubt is “yes”. So, when it comes to your small business, if you want more leads, more sales or customers, put Facebook to work. Drive your business forward in ways you never thought possible.

AT&T has sponsored the above blog post.

How two brothers made $US20 million from one mobile game

Brothers Geremy and Donald Mustard.

This post was originally published on

Infinity Blade is my favorite mobile game. I paid about six times more for it than I have any other iPhone or iPad app, and instantly knew it was worth it.

It’s not like Angry Birds, another favorite of mine, which requires a bit of analytical thought to figure out the fewest birds necessary for maximum destruction. Infinity Blade, made by Chair Entertainment, is about action, survival—and a quest.

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It’s the game I play the most on any iOS (Apple) device, so I was thrilled when I got the chance to preview the sequel: Infinity Blade 2. if you read my hands-on report, you know it’s fun and visually stunning. since I already have so much time invested in the game, I wanted to spend some time with the brains behind the blade.

Donald Mustard and his brother Geremy founded Chair Entertainment in 2005. They were busy building console games such as Shadow Complex when Epic, maker of blockbuster games Gears of War and Unreal Tournament snapped them up in 2008.

Clearly, the Mustard boys are onto something, as more than a few people share my addiction to the sword-wielding, armor-wearing, spell-casting heroes. (Epic’s Infinity Blade forum has thousands of posts. I chatted with the Mustard brothers about the game, their relationship with Apple, and what’s next.

Developing for the iPhone 4S and iOS 5

Apple invited the Mustard brothers to its Cupertino campus just two weeks before the iPhone 4S launch in October, though this didn’t seem to bother them. “we try and make good guesses as to where hardware is going. we had our fingers crossed that there would be something like the iPhone 4S where we can push things further. Luckily Apple delivered,” said Donald.

Jeremy said the company understands Apple product timelines pretty well, so they were already developing an app that would work with what they expected to be an iPhone 4 upgrade. Chair’s bet paid off.

The pair are excited about the potential of iOS 5, especially incremental updates. “[It’s] huge,” said Donald, “because we love being able to update our games.”

Chair is constantly refining their games — but with previous iOS versions, Infinity Blade players had to download a huge update for each tweak. With incremental updates, they can download a 50 MB (or smaller) file, as opposed to one hundreds of megabytes in size.

iPhone 5?

So the Mustards were prepared for iPhone 4S, but what about iPhone 5? did they see it? did they ask? Said Geremy: “we certainly asked. we get coy smiles and tight lips … they don’t tell us anything. I’m sure there will be an iPhone 5 at some point, but we don’t know anything about it.” he paused and laughed: “I bet it’s at least as fast as the iPhone 4s.”

What’s Inside

Infinity Blade 2 is a powerful game, but it’s also a scalable one. the Chair teams designed it to scale down so it could run on the iPhone 3GS and iPad 1. on those devices, players simply see less detail. but on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, Infinity Blade 2 will “use up all the power that is available on these higher-end systems”.

To build Infinity Blade 2, the Mustards eschewed more complex game geometry and focused on character shadows and light rays — effects typically found on console games. Epic added these capabilities to the engine and debuted them in Gears of War 3 on the Xbox 360. that was only a few months ago. “now it’s on the iPhone 4S,” said Geremy. “we made the game, and I still can’t believe it’s running on a phone that I carry in my pocket.”

Where are the Android Apps?

As I was testing Infinity Blade 2, I kept wondering how it would run on an Android “super phone” such as the Motorola Photon 4G, which packs a graphics-friendly NVidia Tegra 2 chip. Unfortunately, Infinity Blade isn’t in the Android Market — and it doesn’t sound like it’s coming any time soon.

There is nothing technically preventing the brothers from bringing Infinity Blade to Android right now. Instead, they’re hesitating because of piracy concerns. According to a number of online reports, there’s enough of a piracy issue in Android marketplace that many developers find it necessary to build in antipiracy measures, which in turn dampens sales.

“We’re confident that will be worked out and it will become a viable place for game developers, but that hasn’t happened yet,” said Donald. “so it’s not the tech, it’s the business platform.”

What Steve said

Donald Mustard met the late Steve Jobs when the Apple founder unveiled Chair and Epic’s game, then called “Project Blade”, at a September 2010 Apple event. Jobs was impressed with the game: “I can’t believe that’s running on an iPhone,” he reportedly said. Jobs also once joked about Donald’s last name, saying “Your name is really ‘Mustard’? I won’t forget that name.”

What’s next

What comes after Infinity Blade 2? the brothers aren’t quite ready to go there yet. “We’ve been working 24 hours a day,” said Donald. “Working like crazy to get this game finished.” They are, however, excited about some of the features that should arrive after the December 1 launch, including “Clash Mob” — which Donald says should change the way we look at “asynchronous social collaboration”.

Building a successful app

There are a lot of successful apps in Apple app store. but with 800,000 of them available, there are also thousands of flops. what does it take to make a game app that can drive $US20 million in sales?

Donald offered this advice to would be app developers: “Create a game that is unique to iOS — something that utilises the touch screen in a cool and innovative new way. Our iOS mantra at Chair is that ‘if the game would be fun with a controller, you are not making the right game.’ Gamers want a fun, original experience on their iOS devices — not a port of their favorite console game.”

Mashable is the largest independent news source covering digital culture, social media and technology.

There’s a Latvian app for that

It has been more than three years since the first Apple iPhone was introduced in the Baltics. not only has the user interface and phone technology been constantly improving, but Latvian language support has become even better and new Latvian applications ranging from reading Latvian newspapers, checking tram timetables to translating Latvian text and listening to a favourite Latvian radio station have appeared in the iTunes App store.

With the recently introduced voice-enabled iPhone 4S worldwide, Apple continues its streak of record-breaking sales. The upgrade of Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad2, earlier this year is also leaving its mark on enterprises by disrupting business models and restructuring IT departments. The industry has been affected so dramatically that manufacturers that once were dominant players are desperately seeking the ideal hardware and software combination to catch up in this transformational era of touch screen-based mobile computing.

For the estimated 40,000 iPhone and 5,000 iPad users currently in Latvia, both the iOS4 and iOS5 software upgrades introduced further Latvian language support. The Latvian date format on the welcome screen is fixed and Latvian language purists now get the “ŗ” (or palatalised r) option by touching the “r” key for more than a second. iOS5 provides dictionary support for the Latvian language for the first time, however Latvian didn’t make the short list of languages used by Siri, Apple’s smart new voice recognition software introduced with the iPhone 4S.

Although the App store for the Baltics has operated since April 2009 it is only in the last 18 months that have we seen a flurry of new apps and new developers attracted to the platform. Among them is 15-year-old Kristers Jursevskis, author of the Doit app. Latvian newspapers and magazines are not wasting any time either by producing iPhone and iPad versions of their content. This is a boon for Latvians living abroad who still want to keep abreast of the latest news and gossip, but don’t want to have to wait up to a week to receive the paper version via snail mail. Dienas mediji offers the daily edition of Diena for only USD 11 per month. Dienas mediji has made a significant investment in its own customised reader application, which apart from the occasional hiccup with the display of photos is very easy to use. Downloading the daily issue normally takes only a minute or two.

Dienas mediji also produce an iPad only publication called piektDiena that includes news from the previous week, adds some weekly video footage by journalist Māris Zanders and is a little more interactive than the regular Diena PDF version. when it was first launched in June of this year the downloads were a hefty 220MB is size, but nonetheless were quick to download. Six months later and still with a free price tag Dienas mediji has managed to reduce the weekly edition to half the file size. However, this hasn’t helped reduce the network load and it now takes several attempts to download piektDiena successfully. Dienas mediji also offer Dienas Bizness (USD 30 per month or USD 2.15 per issue) and and iPad-only version of the weekly Lietišķā Diena (Zurnāls LD) at USD 99 cents per issue.

The Lilita publishing house has also been providing iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad versions of all of its magazines since earlier this year using the Zinio publishing platform. Magazines such as Copes Lietas, Kas Jauns, Pastaiga, Lilita, Geo, NEXT, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Latvijas Arhitektūra and Latvijas Būvniecība can all be enjoyed at the discounted price to the printed version. With the release of iOS5 and the new Newstand feature, Apple’s own publishing platform, it will be interesting to observe what Zinio and the others will do, because ultimately the user will want to visit only one place for all their subscribed newspapers and magazines.

Swedbank has led the way in providing a mobile banking application (Swedbank Latvija) enabling customers to check their account balance, view previous transactions, pay bills, transfer funds, check currency rates and perform many other useful tasks. it took a whole year before other banks offered similar applications—Rietumu banka with its iRietumu App and dnBNord (DNB Latvija) which became available on the App store earlier this month. SEB banka has Estonian and Lithuanian versions, but a Latvian app is yet to be seen.

Trans Riga, created by independent developer Kristaps Grīnbergs, presents the tram, trolleybus and bus timetables of Rīga in an easy to use interface on the iPhone. Clicking on the map icon displays the route in Google Maps which users can then zoom in for more detail. A useful addition to this application, especially for tourists not familiar with Rīga, is to determine the visitor’s current location and list all of the available nearby public transport. And what about train timetables as well as reporting on public transport delays in real time? Admittedly this would be difficult to do without the cooperation of the Rīga public transport authority, which currently does not release this kind of data.

Ardis Markss from E Forma has produced a simple, but effective educational application (Ābece) targetted at both pre-school children and adults to learn the Latvian alphabet. each letter has been beautifully drawn and users can also click to hear pronunciation of each word.

One of the more active mobile application developers has been the Rīga-based Cube advertising agency led by Mārtiņš Dambis. Applications include a television programming guide (Lattelecom TV) commissioned by one of the leading cable and digital TV providers in Latvia (I would love to see this app also become a remote control for switching channels and selecting TV shows so that I can finally throw out the old remote); a Līgo song app (LMT Līgo Līgo) that at the shake of the iPhone can provide the words and tune to many Jāņi songs while celebrating the summer solstice; an events guide to this year’s Positivus 11 music festival; a live audio stream from the progressive radio station Radio 101 as well as a video stream to view what’s happening in the studio; and a shopping guide (Alfas dāvanas) from one of the largest shopping centres in Rīga to help users decide what to buy.

Inspired by the Alice in Wonderland app, Jānis Liepiņš has translated a Latvian folktale into English, added stunning illustrations with animation and adapted it for the iPad to captivate both young and old audiences. Liepiņš even pulled out all stops to make a YouTube video promoting the special King’s Daughters iPad interactive book. I am eagerly waiting for the Latvian version so that I can enjoy it together with my youngest son before bedtime.

The software development company Tilde, best known for its Latvian spelling, grammar and translation software, has released the Translation app that can translate whole sentences from Latvian to English, English to Latvian and Latvian to Russian. it is free, but you’ll need to be connected to the Internet via WiFi or 3G. airBaltic has an iPhone app (airBaltic) to view timetables and flight status, as well as access online check-in facilities. There is also a companion app for the airline’s frequent flyers (BalticMiles). CSN Test will help users prepare for the challenging 30 multiple choice questions presented in the driver’s theory exam; Latvian Nouns provides an instant reference to noun, adjective, numeral and pronoun declensions (apologies for the shameless plug); DPD LV allows customers to track shipments online from pick-up to delivery; Riga in your Pocket puts its popular tourist guide on an iPhone (Riga) with updates on a regular basis; and the draugiem.lv app has revamped its user interface and removed the charging mechanism for iPhone users. as a fan of Latvian ice hockey I tried to retrieve the Dinamo Rīga app, but it seems that access to this could be restricted to the territory of Latvia, which leaves me no other option than to visit the real game next time I’ll be in Rīga.

To find the latest and greatest Latvian app, click on the flag on the right bottom of the iTunes screen and select Latvia. The iTunes Latvia store has been available since August. another alternative is to regularly check Web sites such as mac.tunt.lv, which provides further links to macpasaule.lv and ipods.lv. yet another option is to download the new app called “Lietotnes latviski,” the primary goal is to help manage one’s way through the plethora of new Latvian apps that are now appearing on a weekly basis. However, at the time of writing not all apps were included and updates have been sporadic.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of Latvian apps, but it gives an appreciation for the diversity now available. I look forward to the day when Latvian utilities, TV stations and government departments will open up their data to the community to pave the way for even more innovative and exciting mobile applications, no matter where one may be located worldwide.

Arnis Gross is technical director of Latvians Online and founder of the Latvian software & IT consultancy firm DekSoft.

Google’s iPad App: Almost Chrome, and Trouble for Apple

Google has earned a reputation of late for releasing troubled iOS apps. Gmail was so buggy in its initial state that Google had to pull it from the App Store. Google+ was temperamental too, and even now it lags behind its Android counterpart in getting new features. after the launch of iOS 5, Google had to pull its Voice app for a week due to crashes.

So when Google releases a beautiful, flawless iOS app like Google Search for iPad, I figure the company is up to something.

Despite the name, Google Search does more than spit back search results. the app presents you with big, colorful links to several Google services, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Google+, Picasa, YouTube and Google Books. These are apps within the app, sliding onto the screen in a self-contained web browser. You can also search by voice within the app, and get instant search results as you type.

As is, I can see myself spending a lot of time in Google’s iPad app, but what’s frustrating is that with a few tweaks, Google Search could be a proper iPad web browser, and probably the best one. All it needs is a full URL bar instead of a search box at the top of the screen, some bookmarks and a way to open multiple browser tabs. the groundwork for a clean, snappy interface with useful search tools is already in place. Add some more features, and suddenly it’s Chrome for iPad.

And that’s where things could get really crazy–as in, Google creating its own competing app platform within iOS.

I’m not the only one to suspect a secret plot in Mountain View. Over at the Next Web, Matt Panzarino argues that this app is Google’s way of sneaking its own web-based operating system, known as Chrome OS, onto the iPad. He figures that Google could update the app over time, replacing each web app with native software, and he suspects that Google’s Chrome OS team is behind the whole thing.

I think Panzarino has it backwards. instead of tying in more native apps, Google should be adding more web apps, not only from its own services, but from the Chrome Web Store. by working with third-party developers to make their web apps touch-friendly, Google could build up a tablet app catalog that works in its own iPad browser.

Some of the work is already done. try accessing NPR’s Chrome web app from an iPad. it looks almost exactly like the native App Store version–it responds to finger swipes and it plays audio within the browser. Other apps are part way there. Vimeo Couch Mode, for instance, has the interface in place, but uses Flash for video instead of the iPad-friendly HTML5. (Vimeo’s main site uses HTML5 when accessed on an iPhone or iPad.)

(LIST: ‘Do a Barrel Roll’ and Several Other Fun Google Easter Eggs)

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