While most reviews spend a lot of time comparing the processor and the form factor, I lay emphasis on the software. Both iPhone and android have shown tremendous innovations and each player enjoys pros and cons of its own.

Interface:
Apple has put in a lot of thought into simplicity into the interface. The Cupertino giant has yet another polished interface, which is extremely easy to use. The android interface on the other hand can really make use of some simplification. The widgets and the mini apps are really confusing.

Lets Talk Apps
While the android market has been booming with apps, the quality of the apps are pretty low. Functionality is not the key, while iPhone leads strongly in terms of uniformity and simplicity. It makes a lot of sense for apple to enforce such strong rules for app approval process.

Maps and Navigation
While both the navigation applications use google for its backend data source, the android application is much better and Google has done a tremendous job with the navigation application. While the iphone does have a really good app, the android app is much better.

Sync Sync Sync
Android had a huge edge on this front, until apple released iCloud as a part of iOS5. This makes a tremendous difference, since the loyal apple followers now enjoy photos, videos and apps on the ipad too.

Bells and Whistles
Both android and iPhone have its own bells and whistles. Android has been an open platform and applications like swype have made a significant impact on the device. Apple, despite being a closed platform now enjoys an amazing talking assistant in the form of siri. Also, iPhone is a global phone which supports both GSM and CDMA, and a lot of smart phone carriers.

In a nutshell, both operating systems are doing great and you will not be disappointed with either.

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Iphone Credit card reader

There is also a similar payment system that was launched by the twitter c0-founder Jack Dorsey also releasing a dongle to receive payments on their iphone. Although the system helps people to receive payments, we found the utility to be more useful when iphone users could pay securely with their iphone.

Iphone Payment Dongle

With millions of iphone users round the globe, a payment system would indeed be revolutionary. Both the systems are in prototype and would make a big difference in the near future.

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Slingmedia player iphone

The Slingplayer iphone App :

Slingmedia has been producing applications for various devices like the blackberry and the release of Slingplayer iphone app has seen enough drama with AT&T interfering in the 3G factor. The iphone app was released today in the iphone app store for a price of $29.99, one among the few apps priced over $10. There is a 30 day free trial with all other platforms, blackberry, windows mobile, symbian and palm, but iphone users have been denied the free trial. The slingplayer software is also pricey, considering the fact that you will need slingbox and slingcatcher software.

The 3G factor :

Att forbids 3G fearing network congestion

While iphone users paid apple for the dream gadget, they definitely counted on 3G as one of the advantages over other phones. While slingplayer operates on blackberry, palm, symbian and windows mobile, the slingplayer software works only over wifi. Slingmedia did want to capitalize on the 3G factor and worked on the slingplayer with 3G capabilities. However, AT&T interrupted during the launch and made Slingmedia to tweak its software and block 3G access from the application. AT&T admitted to the media that blocking 3G was necessary, forcing fears of network congestion and cited that streaming was prohibited in a clause in terms and conditions. While At&t has clearly benefited from the iphone marriage, with wireless revenues soaring up, It is a sad sight to see that At&t proscribes the use of 3G in case of sling software.

THE WAIT :

SlingMedia honchos demonstrated the Slingmedia app in the macworld Expo, January this year and launch of this application was being awaited by sling fans. It is a real disappointment to see that there is no free trial, no 3G and the price is $30.

No free trail for iphone users

You can download the App – Itunes link for $29.99

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When you tap the icon that looks like this:

You should see a new tape, with the usual buttons that you would find on a tape deck, underneath:

• Record
• Play
• Rewind
• Fast Forward
• Stop
• Pause
• Eject

The tape deck should look like this:

The first thing that I would recommend doing, is renaming the tape, so that you know what it’s about when you look for it at a later date. To do this, just tap next to the ‘A’ on the tape itself, then type in the name of the tape, just like you would put the Subject in an Email. When you have put that in, tap ‘Done’.

Then you can start recording your voice memo or reminder etc, to do this, press ‘Rec’ (Record), in the bottom left-hand corner. Then create your voice memo or reminder, to stop recording, press ‘Stop’. If you would like to listen to the recording that you have just made, rewind the tape, by tapping the ‘Rew’, and then press ‘Play’.

To see other tapes that you have created, tap ‘Eject’ (bottom right), this will bring you to a list that looks something like this, this is known as the ‘Tape Vault’:

To listen to one of them, tap it, then press ‘Rewind’, then ‘Play’.

This does not sound any different to the Dictaphone that I’m using now – what can this app do, that my Dictaphone can’t?

As I said earlier, ‘Tapes’, can syncronize to your Mac/PC using FTP in any internet browser. To access this, all you need to do is, in the app, navigate your way to the ‘Tape Vault’ menu (if you are on the Recording screen, tap ‘Eject’). At the bottom of this screen you should see an address that starts with ‘FTP://….’ then some numbers. The way that I like to get the files off of my iPhone, and onto my computer is by doing this: (instructions for Windows users)

• Open Windows Explorer (A Folder like My Documents).
• Type in the FTP://…. where it says Documents. Then Press enter.
• Identify the file that you would like, then drag it into a different folder such as My Music.
• It may take a while to copy, but when it has finished you will be able to play your recording.

This is a great app if you currently own, and use a Dictaphone, it will save room in your pockets as you will only be carrying around your iPhone (that you carry anyway). The app is cheap and has a retro style to it that, if you can remember what a tape deck looked like, you will be familiar with. The GUI could be a bit livelier, however, it does the job that it needs to. This application is certainly a must for people who need to remember things, or for people to use as an alternative to making notes on Post-it’s!

You can download ‘Tapes’ here

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Advertise

There is no point in having an App, if nobody knows about it – Is there? So, you need to advertise on websites, but you need to be careful – there is no point in advertising on a site about Weight Loss, when your application is a Car Racing App. You have to think about a couple of questions, Who is your main audience? Is it aimed people who are losing weight, or is it aimed at people who are into Cars and Racing? You then have to think about another question, What websites would these people visit? Would they visit a Weight Loss website, a Formula 1 website or an Online Auction Site? Think about the most likely sites that they would go to, then start advertising on them! However, you will have to create the advert yourself, and you will have to agree on page impressions per month etc, with the owner of the site.

Make a Website

This will give people the opportunity to read a little more into the app and see what you, the developer, is planning for future updates. This website should also have a ‘Contact Me’ section, where people can give their ideas for updates, and where they can ask you questions. Yet again, this is advertising!

Be willing to lose money, to gain money

So, have you ever had an Application Reviewer email you? No? Well, maybe, you need to have a way to get in touch with you you first! When you have done this, people will be contacting you all of the time! This tip means that if an App Reviewer does come along, and they would like an Application Code so that they get the App for free (for reviewing purposes only!), don’t say ‘No, go and buy it yourself, if you want it that badly’. Say ‘Yeah, sure!’. This means that your app will have a whole post written about it, people will read it, and hopefully download the app! Yet more advertising for your application!

Make a Lite Version of your App

Most people don’t want to pay a lot of money for one app that could be rubbish! So, give them a ‘lite version‘ of your application, this means that they get to try one or two levels of your app, in a free download from the App Store. Many companies like ngmoco who made the successful application ‘Rolando‘, have made a lite version. Yeah, but I’m losing money here – I’ve slaved over two levels, but I’m giving them away for free, that’s not right, surely? OK, maybe you’re right, but, in the long term you will make money – especially if the two levels that you give away are very enjoyable!

Take time and care over descriptions of the Application

Imagine that your application is called ‘Car Racing’. In the description (especially on the App Store), don’t say ‘The name of the App says it all, you race cars.’. Say something like ‘This fun and immersing game lets you race around the suburbs of towns. You battle against your rival gangs, to see who is the ‘top dog”. See how much more interesting the app sounds? You’ve only added a couple of sentences to the description! If you can, include some quotes from reviewers (obviously, don’t pick bad quotes!). Basically, all you need to do is ‘big yourself up’, obviously, though, you have to tell the truth, and not exaggerate on things.

Excellent! A lot of people have downloaded my App, what do I do now?

Don’t update your app, for the sake of updating!

If you think that your application needs updating, then make the update worth downloading, however, if there is a critical bug in your application, then make an update especially for that bug, as this will make the users time using the application, far more enjoyable. Also, make the update descriptions in-depth, don’t just say ‘Bug Fix’, say something like ‘Critical Bug Fix: This bug would make the Application Freeze’ – people are interested in what the update does.

Continue to advertise!

You can never have enough app downloads!

So, what do you have to do, basically, to get more users? Advertise! This is the most important point of them all, if you don’t advertise, no-one will know about your application, therefore, no-one will download it.

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Have iphones been deliberately loosely packed to be jail broke by hackers?

Apple announces iphone OS 3.0

Steve Jobs signed an 5 year contract for exclusive rights for AT&T and with the craze of the iphone soaring like wildfire, AT&T has certainly benefited from the deal. Apple has certainly had the lion’s share of the profits, arising out of the deal, but AT&T has managed to pocket some money, in a high volume game. Many critics have written about the possibility of interim CEO Tim Cook, considering Verizon wireless and ditching AT&T. Verizon is the second largest carrier in the Unites States, after AT&T, and a magic deal from apple will probably be received with a warm welcome by Verizon. Apple has almost sailed through half the journey and breaking a 5 year deal with AT&T is certainly not in the minds of Steve Jobs.

Large Customer Base

So, it is quite clearly evident that apple would lose a lot of customers, if the iphone was made extremely secure, thus making the jail break improbable. A lot of iphone users in the United States are under other carriers and the number of international users is increasing everyday and is no longer a small percentage. Engadget has a list of 32 countries, where the iphone was being used, and the list is growing everyday, since Apple is expanding the iphone territory across the globe.

Apple’s Solution :

Apple is known for the way it executes things and the iphone security might be one more of its cruel strategies. By making the iphone software not extremely secure, the deal with AT&T holds extremely good. In fact, Apple takes some considerable effort to make iphone OS secure, so it takes a little while for hackers to jailbreak the OS. By doing this, Apple is allowing a lot of users to use the iphone, who probably insist on staying in other carriers, or being forced to use other carriers, in case of international users.

OS Beta Releases :

How many products does apple release in beta? While builds of latest operating system (leopard) are being seeded only to the privileged and loyal apple community users, iphone OS 3.0 is being given away for developers in the beta stage itself. Credit the hackers for breaking in to the iphone 1.0, after working for a long time, but how long do you think it took the hackers to break into iphone firmware 2.0? Thanks to the beta release, the firmware 2.0 was broken 3 months ahead of release. With the app store development in progress, Apple made it very clear that all existing users would need to get to the latest firmware, and without hassles.

Legal Issues :

Apple was once quoted in a interview stating that jail breaking the Iphone firmware was a crime, but Apple does want the small percentage of users to jailbreak and does not seem to be caring much about it. While Verizon boasts a better network quality, Apple could not have got Verizon signing in for this lucrative deal, like with AT&T, whose network quality has sometimes even parred users from taking up the magic device.

There are a lot of projects wide out in the internet, which work on the Iphone firmware and these hackers are finding the new iphone firmwares easier to break through. Yellow snow might go obsolete in future, with users themselves breaking the firmware.

Iphone OS 3.0 has been released and how soon do you think is it going to be jail broken? Let us know your thoughts on the apple strategy.

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Ebook reader on iphone

You got the iphone – music, videos, games are at the reach of your finger. How about books? You might not be surprised to see an traveler with a iphone and a book. Well, you might soon see books as iphone apps themselves.

Scrollmotion is an iphone dedicated company, that has added some value to the iphone community by making some news and TV shows available on the iphone. Scrollmotion has made available the content of full websites like slate.com into the iphone, while deploying the style and navigation of the iphone.

In a recent venture, Scrollmotion has partnered with big publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin, Penguin Group USA and Hachette in a new deal, which will allow scrollmotion to create ebooks shaped into iphone apps. With good experience behind the team, you can expect excellent pagination, notes, adjustable fonts, and much more from scrollmotion. Most of the “to be created books as iphone apps” ll run on the iceberg reader engine.

There are already a few iphone apps, which allow you to read ebooks. In fact a good number of them are available for free. If people should shell out a buck or two, the interface should be extremely user friendly.

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Microsoft iphone application - in itunes

Yes, you read it right. Live labs aka Microsoft have come up with a iphone app – “Seadragon Mobile“. Seadragon is a free graphics viewer app that helps iphone users view large pictures. This is the first step from the operating system giant and Alex Daley, group product manager for Microsoft Live Lab, comments that the iphone is “the perfect platform for such apps” and picked iphone ahead of blackberry and Nokia.

Seadragon takes advantage of the inbuilt graphics processing unit of the iphone, which is not as powerful as the iphone or even absent in other smart phones. The backbone of this iphone app from Microsoft is the photo application software for windows – Photosynth. [Photosynth.com]. You can quickly view through gigapixel images and also explore photosynth collections in 2D on the iphone. There are also additional features such as maps and Deep Zoom RSS subscriptions.

Apparently, despite the rivalry between Microsoft and the Cupertino giant, the Microsoft iphone application has been accepted into the iphone app store. (Abode is still struggling to get flash on iphone, and opera is also rumored to have been offered little support by apple).

This iphone app by Microsoft is free of cost and is compatible with both ipod touch as well as iphone. Curious to know if Microsoft has launched other apps in the istore, i did a search too “Not yet there”.

Microsoft iphone app search in itunes

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t mobile HTC dream (google android)

Steve Jobs, with such clandestine operations, swiped the whole world to the floor with the launch of iphone in 2007. With rumors floating around about Gphone, google certainly came with its own mobile platform. The first google android powered mobile is all set to hit the shelves tomorrow. Will this be the ultimate iphone killer?

Year 2007 was the dream year in apple’s calendar with the launch of iphone and leopard was showing its ferocity and mac sales soaring. Gphone was around the corner, but google surprised the world by coming up with the open source mobile platform. By making it open source, the number of developers involved in the project became multi fold. The open hand set alliance is all geared up and the show down is all set to September 23. In august, T mobile obtained approval from FCC and the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1 phone) will be launched tomorrow.

The google mobile platform is equipped enough to handle different kinds of hardware and support advanced audio/video/image media formats such as MPEG-4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPEG, PNG, GIF. The system boasts a inbuilt browser based on open source webkit, on the basis of which safari is built. With the accelerometer and other features, the platform is all set to challenge the iphone. While android is capable to handling java applications, flash support still remains a question. This is also the true with the iphone. The platform gives android developers a great opportunity to leverage with the unanimous treatment – “all applications are equal”.

The android powered T mobile is tagged with $199, and will come with a swivel-out full keyboard and with a large touch screen (see dimensions below). Google is also set to launch the google app store and it is rumored that most apps will be free. With Intel, Motorola, Sprint, Tmobile and google in the team, the development is expected to be very innovative and top-drawer. But there are a few sections of the SDK, that has been kept closed despite being labeled open source.

Also when support for java has been included, native apps that can run on java ME is not a part of the package and hence native java apps (those running on 2G phones) cannot be ported. The HTC dream houses a 3.1MP camera with no flash , 2048 × 1536 resolution.

Raw dimensions :

115 mm × 55 mm (4.53 in × 2.17 in), 16 mm (0.63 in) thick
Screen size is 3.17 inches (81 mm) with HVGA (480 × 320)

See it in action : Youtube video (~45 seconds)

Image credit : http://www.macrumors.com/

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Hashcube is a Indian startup , bootstrapped from scratch. The primary focus of the company was into gaming, which is now refined to online mobile games. With the number of smart phones on the rise and the iphone craze, most mobile phones have a inbuilt browser today. Deepan carries a macbook pro, and quotes that the company’s development is right now in stealth mode. Hashcube has released a number of free games in the past including tower of hanoi and Photographic Memory Game. These games work fine in any of the following environments – blackberry, iphone, rim and most intelligent smart phones. In any case, a browser is mandatory.

Sudoku on the iphone

Catching up with the iphone crowd, hashcube recently released a classic game sudoku for iphone. Not able to resist the sudoku puzzle, i tried the game on a iphone and i was pretty impressed with the pencil feature. Deepan did not comment on his ongoing projects. hashcube has also launched a couple of facebook apps and other online games.

His macbook pro was cool, and i asked him if i should upgrade from my macbook to a pro. He smiled and commented that he did enjoy the power of the pro, but also developed back pain .

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