Archive for the ‘app store’ category

iOS4 Updated Apps: Osfoora, Agendus, Reeder, AT&T MyWireless, Pano,

July 29th, 2010

As you all know by now, we’re still watching for iOS4 updates that crop up in the app store, and as always, if you guys see interesting ones, feel free to let us know. Here’s the ones we found in the last week or so, and if you haven’t checked for updates, go check that update tab and let us know if you caught something we didn’t!

Osfoora

Osfoora has taken the place as my favorite Twitter client (for now anyways). They received an iOS4 update we covered a few weeks back, but this one is even better. It adds full retina display support for the iPhone 4 and boy is it pretty. The whole app got somewhat of a facelift as well. The text really pops and the main menus have been revamped. So if you haven’t updated, go for it, or if you are looking for a Twitter client, Osfoora is definitely one of the best around.

[iTunes Link]

Agendus

Agendus is basically an all-in-one app for all the important information on your phone. It basically intertwines your contacts, calendars, and apps into one native app. If you’ve always wanted something that would do this, Agendus is more than decent. The new version adds iOS4 support as well as a new high res icon.

[iTunes Link]

Reeder

Reeder is one of my favorite RSS clients. If you don’t have one and want a full featured one with Google Reader integration, there’s a good chance Reeder will do what you need it to, and then some. This update adds support for the iPhone 4 retina display. The icon just looks so fancy on my homescreen now, as well as all my articles being incredibly sharp. Good job on this one guys, it’s an awesome update.

[iTunes Link]

AT&T MyWireless

AT&T just pushed through an update to their MyWireless app that adds retina support for the iPhone 4. This app basically allows you to view usage, manage features, and even pay your bill via the app. I’ve been using it to pay my bill for quite a while now. Pretty convenient. If you’re an AT&T customer, go ahead and pick it up, it’s free.

[iTunes Link]

Pano

Pano is an awesome app to stitch together pics on the go. It’ll save them directly in your camera roll. The interface is dead easy to use and once you snap a pic it’ll give you guides to line up your next shot with the previous one. This update fixed several bugs and crashes. Mine was continuously crashing under iOS4 but it doesn’t anymore. If you guys noticed anything different than iOS4 compatibility in this one, let us know!

[iTunes Link]

iOS4 Updated Apps: Osfoora, Agendus, Reeder, AT&T MyWireless, Pano, is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, app store, app updates, iOS 4 apps, iOS4, ios 4, iphone

Apple and magazine publishers at odds over subscriptions?

July 28th, 2010

MediaMemo is saying Time Inc. is having trouble setting up their own subscription service for a Sports Illustrated iPad magazine app:

Last month, the publisher was set to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app, where consumers would download the magazines via Apple’s iTunes, but would pay Time Inc. directly. But Apple rejected the app at the last minute, forcing the Time Warner (TWX) unit to sell single copies, using iTunes as a middleman, multiple sources tell me.

First, at the iPhone 3.0 event in 2009, Apple showed off App Store subscriptions for magazines alongside in-app purchase, but while in-app purchases are now fairly common, I’m hard pressed to find a showcase example for App Store subscriptions. What happened to them? Are publishers not eager to embrace them or has Apple not provided the mechanism?

Second, it looks like Time is trying to go around the App Store for subscriptions, kind of like what Amazon and Audible do for users who buy books via Mobile Safari on the web but can then download their library in-app. Is Time trying to do something similar to that but not getting their app approved?

So what happened? The Time Inc. insiders I talked to don’t have a clear answer, presumably because they can’t get one from Apple itself. One theory: Apple is concerned about the publisher’s plans for the consumer data it would collect with each subscription. A darker one: Steve Jobs loves the idea of digital magazines and wants to control the market for himself.

“Darker” certainly scores the melodramatic points, but Apple had no problem rolling out iBooks while still allowing the aforementioned Amazon Kindle app and a host of other competitors. They’ve let streaming music and video apps in to vie for music money against iTunes.

Due to the opaque nature of the App Store approval process, and Apple’s secrecy surrounding unannounced features and technology, there’s never an easy way to tell if a delay is political, business related, or because Steve Jobs will be announcing some new magazine-focused API for subscriptions in September.

These are huge companies, there’s a lot of money on the table, and a critical amount of personal user data behind it. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of foot stomping and fist shaking, and press leaks to spin the story. I’m sure we’ll hear cries that evil Apple is denying big publishers their control, and big publishers are gouging users for digital copies. Fine. At the end of the day I want what I think most end users want — an easy, secure, privacy-protecting way to get my magazines (and comics!) on my iPhone and iPad at a fair price. Apple wins. Publishers win. We win.

Let’s figure that out, shall we?

[MediaMemo, thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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Posted in Apple, News, Subscriptions, app store, magazines, rejected apps, sports illustrated, time

Chain Link Pro for iPhone – App Review

July 24th, 2010

Chain Link is based on the concept of creating as many links as you can and dragging them into the vortex in the middle of the screen without disturbing any other types of links. The game starts off fairly easy and gets harder pretty quick. There’s also support for OpenFeint to share your scores with your friends and other Chain Link users. I found the game pretty addicting after a while. Hit the jump for more screens and a walkthrough.

When you first open Chain Link, you’ll be asked to choose a game mode. The differences are that in easy mode (static), the pieces won’t move by themselves. They stay in one spot, where in arcade mode, they’ll move around, making it harder to avoid collisions. Whenever pieces collide with another piece that isn’t a like kind, instead of creating a chain, the pieces that collide will shatter. You’ll also lose one of your lives. You get 3 lives. After your third collision, game over.

Besides having regular game play modes, you can also choose timed modes. The pieces will float up from the bottom and down from the top and you’ll have to try and coordinate chains as quickly as possible and drag them to the center.

All in all, Chain Link is a pretty decent game to kill time with. It gets hard pretty quickly and there’s tons of game play modes to keep you busy. There’s nothing more depressing than beating a game you like in a couple days and either having to wait for an update to add more levels or just retiring it altogether. Especially when it’s a game you enjoy. I don’t see this being the case with Chain Link. There’s a lot of different game play options to keep you busy for quite some time. I think adding a few more options and maybe more visually appealing menus could improve the user experience.

[iTunes Link]

Pros

Easy to play

Lots of game play settings

OpenFeint Support

Cons

Some of the game play modes are a lot alike

The addition of more shapes would be welcome in order to make game play just a bit more complex for expert players

Main menu is somewhat cluttered

YouTube Link

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iOS 4 App Updates: Foursquare, Pulse News Mini, Paypal, iTranslate, eBay Mobile

July 23rd, 2010

We’re still keeping our eye out for great iOS 4 apps that take advantage of the new APIs and features available to developers under iOS4. We’ve found a couple more good ones to share with you guys, and as always, if you see any good ones, drop ‘em in the comments so we can check them out too!

Foursquare

Even though Foursquare has already received a general update for iOS4, it seems they’re still adding new features. Along with several needed bug fixes, they’ve added support for in-app sms and e-mail as well as more support for iPhone 4 retina display. I was pretty disappointed in Foursquare for quite a while as far as the GPS refreshing and multitasking but it appears this version fixed most of my complaints. It’s nice to see they’re taking an active role in improving the overall user experience.

[iTunes Link]

Pulse News Mini

I took a look at this app about a month ago. It’s still got a ways to come functionality, but its hands down one of the most gorgeous RSS apps available for iOS. I’ve found myself using Pulse for quick reading and using Reeder when I actually want to sit down and catch up on any missed RSS feeds I hadn’t had time to read. This version adds support for the iPhone 4 retina display as well as adding some speed enhancements. It also adds a cool feature where you can bump phones with a friend that uses Pulse and share your feeds and articles. Beats e-mailing them a link for sure.

[iTunes Link]

Paypal

The Paypal app got a much needed update a few months ago that added more core functionality, but since then, it’s somewhat sat stagnant beyond minor bug fixes. It appears this version adds iOS4 support but Paypal hasn’t elaborated on exactly what that entails. I don’t believe there is retina display support (at least it doesn’t look any sharper to me). I’m assuming basic enhancements such as multitasking and better compatibility is what they’ve added. I had a few crashes with the Paypal app on iOS4 but since the update, it appears to be crash free.

[iTunes Link]

iTranslate

I know there’s tons of translation apps out there, but iTranslate still remains one of my favorites. It’s simple and clean. This version adds support for the retina display for iPhone 4 users as well as fast app switching and in-app SMS. If you’re looking for a simple translator, it doesn’t get any easier than this app. There’s also a plus version and in-app purchase available for text to speech.

[iTunes Link]

eBay Mobile

I’ve been a fan of the eBay mobile app since it came out. It’s been nice to be able to browse through auctions quickly on the go. This update adds support for fast app switching and high resolution images for iPhone 4 users. It also addresses some issues as well as adding an easier Paypal solution in-app. If you haven’t picked it up yet, it’s free. Check it out!

[iTunes Link]

Hope you guys are having as much fun with iOS 4 as we are! Let us know your thoughts on these updates as well as anything you guys may stumble upon that we missed!

iOS 4 App Updates: Foursquare, Pulse News Mini, Paypal, iTranslate, eBay Mobile is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, app store, compatible, iOS 4 apps, iOS4, iphone 4, iphone apps

MOG music app for iPhone/iPod touch launches in App Store

July 20th, 2010

Today MOG (Music on the Go) [iTunes Link - free download] has been released into the App Store. For $10/per month you will get access to over 8 million songs with the ability to store the MP3 files (up to 320Kbps) directly on your iPhone/iPod touch to listen to them whenever and wherever you want. Keep in mind this is purely an app that allows you to store the music locally on your iOS device and not actually keep or transfer the files.

Unlike some of the streaming music apps such as Pandora, with MOG you get ad-free music from favorite artists with no limit on the number of consecutive tracks by a single artist. The one big pitfall is the current lack of multi-tasking support. On a positive note we were promised that this will be added within a few weeks time period.

Be sure to check out the video after the the break and if you give MOG’s free three-day, no commitment trial a go let us know what you think in the comments below!

MOG music app for iPhone/iPod touch launches in App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, MOG, MOG Music, Music, app store, iphone

iOS4 apps: Amazon.com, WebMD, SimplyTweet, Mapquest, Audible

July 18th, 2010

It’s been a while since our last iOS 4 compatible apps roundup so we figured it was time for another. I’ve seen quite a few updates come through in the past week or so but here’s the ones that caught my eye the most. And as always, if you see any you think are above the curve, let us know in the comments!

Keep reading to see what’s been added this time!

Amazon.com App

Amazon has a pretty appealing iPhone app. I frequently browse it on my iPhone while laying in bed or when I’m sitting somewhere bored. You can not only browse, but manage your account and purchase things. The entire process is pretty simple. Amazon has now added high resolution images to support the iPhone 4’s retina display. Best of all, the app’s free.

[iTunes Link]

SimplyTweet 3

SimplyTweet has long been at the top of my list for great Twitter clients. This time around, it got even better. Their update for iOS4 is probably one of the largest I have seen. They’ve not only added resolution enhancement for iPhone 4, but background uploading, fast app switching, and several other features. This update also seems to fix a lot of bugs. If you’re looking for a more than decent Twitter client and don’t mind dropping around $5, SimplyTweet is right up there with Osfoora and Twitter for iPhone.

[iTunes Link]

Mapquest 4 Mobile

There’s a lot of quality navigation apps out there, but for some of them, you’ll spend a pretty penny. Mapquest 4 Mobile is a very decent GPS app that won’t cost you anything. It’s been updated to support background voice navigation under iOS4. It’s also a very decent app to view common things such as restaurants, gas stations, coffee shops, schools, etc.. I’ve used it for a few weeks now and it suits my navigation needs just fine. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s free to check it out!

[iTunes Link]

WebMD

WebMD is an incredibly useful tool for looking up a lot of medical issues all in one place. It has features such as a symptom checker, treatment recommendations, and my favorite feature, the pill identification tool. If you’ve ever found random pills in a drawer or the label is peeled off, odds are you can probably narrow it down to a few with this. I’m not exactly sure what all WebMD has added but I’m pretty sure fast app switching is now working (assuming they aren’t just caching like some apps did under 3.x), and it seems to look a little better on the iPhone 4 than it did before. I’m not 100% on this so if anyone knows for sure, drop it in the comments!

[iTunes Link]

Audible

Audible is a great site (and app) to access your digital audiobooks. Once you have an account, you simply sign into the app and it’ll show what you have available. It also gives you a few choices for new users for free (not that great of a selection, but there is some). The app is free and now supports feature in iOS4 such as background downloading and background playback, which is awesome for those of you who want to listen to a book while being able to do other things on your iPhone. It’s a free download in the app store so if you are an audiobook fan, go and grab it!

[iTunes Link]

Those were our favorites, if you guys have some, drop ‘em in the comments for us!

iOS4 apps: Amazon.com, WebMD, SimplyTweet, Mapquest, Audible is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, app store, compatible, iOS4, iphone, iphone 4

Happy 2nd Birthday iTunes App Store!

July 11th, 2010

2 years ago today Apple launched the iTunes App Store and it’s safe to say the mobile world hasn’t been the same since.

1 year ago the iTunes App Store had 1+ billion downloads and 56,000+ apps, added turn-by-turn navigation, in-app purchases, and other new features.

Today there’s 5+ billion downloads and 225,000+ apps (including over 8500+ ipad apps), along with $1 billion paid out to developers, iAds, and multitask, among other things.

And it shows no sign of slowing down.

There are still issues with the app approval process to be sure, and Apple has wedged HTML5 every so slightly into the app spotlight. Never mind every competing OS, manufacturer, and carrier is falling all over themselves (and each other) to launch and grow app stores of their own — and some like Google’s and Palm’s are showing ever increasing and innovating results.

Overall, however, with the gateway device that is the iPod touch, the mobile mainstream converger that is the iPhone, and the bigger world that is the iPad, if anything it’s getting faster.

What will we see next, iOS apps on a new Apple TV? Replacing Dashboard and Front Row on the Mac? And what will Apple bring next March is iOS 5?

Jeff Scott from 148apps thinks iOS could hit 35 billion downloads next year. That sounds crazy, but 5 billion sounded crazy just a couple years ago. (And if it’s true, I think we’re going to need a bigger cake.)

So happy birthday iTunes App Store, congratulations on 2 great years. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for us next.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Development, Games, app store, birthday, ipad, iphone, ipod touch

UPDATED: iTunes accounts being hacked, used to cheat App Store?

July 4th, 2010

It looks like there’s been a sharp rise in iTunes accounts being hacked. We don’t have any solid information on this yet, but when it comes to security TiPb believes in warning first, worrying about the details later. Engadget points to a link between the hacks and the rise in popularity of some Vietnamese book apps. Sounds crazy, but it’s absolutely not funny:

As of this writing, 42 of the top 50 books by revenue are from the seller Thuat Nguyen, whose company website (“mycompany”) leads to parked site www.home.com. [...] a number of people [are] reporting up to hundreds of dollars being spent unwillingly from their account to these specific books. Coincidence? Let’s not mince words here, something is definitely amiss, and it’s not looking good. Just to be safe, might wanna check your purchase history under Apple Account information. We’ve reached out to Apple and will let you know as soon as we hear back.

Checking your account info for fraudulent charges is great advice. Using a long, strong password with numbers, symbols, and letters, and changing it regularly is also good advice.

If you’ve seen anything suspicious, report the problem to iTunes, and let us know in the comments.

UPDATE: 9to5Mac says the “mycompany” apps have been pulled from the iTunes App Store.

[Engadget, 9to5Mac]

UPDATED: iTunes accounts being hacked, used to cheat App Store? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Fraud, News, app store, hacks, iTunes, ipad, iphone, ipod touch, itunes hacks

Facebook for iPhone iOS 4 hits iTunes App Store

July 1st, 2010

Facebook for iOS 4 has been updated to version 1.4. The new additions are as follows:

Updated for iOS 4: Fast App Switching along with high resolution icons.
Korean and Russian localizations.
Other minor bug fixes.

Unlike the last Facebook update, there is no mention of the bugs that have been corrected.

Have you updated yet? If so let us know how it’s working for you!

Facebook for iPhone iOS 4 hits iTunes App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Application, Apps, News, app store, facebook, ios, iphone, update

Microsoft Office Mobile coming to iPhone?

June 29th, 2010

The App Store already plays host to several mobile apps that allow users to view and edit documents and spreadsheets, but how about an official MS Office app for iOS that you can natively edit and view all MS Office formats in? Hints persist that it may be coming. We’ll have to call this one a rumor for now, but considering Bing is already available for the iPhone, it’s plausible. Apple and Microsoft seem to be playing nice lately, so we won’t rule it out.

It seems a job posting for Microsoft may indicate this is the case. The following is an excerpt from the posting:

“In addition to the current Windows Mobile 6.5 and upcoming WM7 clients, with the recently announced alliance between Microsoft and Nokia we are working to bring Office Mobile to hundreds of millions of Nokia smartphone owners, followed by other leading Smartphone platforms.”

iOS is definitely a leading smartphone platform, but there’s also others, so we’ll just have to wait and see on this one. What do you guys think?

[WMPowerUser via WMExperts]

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, MS Office, Microsoft, Rumors, app store, ios, iphone

iOS 4 battery life, iOS bugs and issues, updated apps, iPad cases, iOS 4.01 – From the Forums

June 28th, 2010

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

One of the most important aspects of any smartphone is battery life, how is the battery life with a iPhone 3GS running iOS 4 holding up for you?
It’s safe to say most of you have been running iOS 4 on your iPhone for about a week now – if you have bugs or issues you want to report or see what others are reporting, this is the place to do it!
Curious to know what App Store apps have been updated for iOS 4? Then check out the following thread – Official TiPb apps updated to iOS 4
iPad cases – Whether you are in need of a case or what to tell us about a great case you may have found, this is the thread for you.
iOS 4.01 – Will we see this update this week to fix the mysterious reception issues a lot of users are reporting? Be sure to vote!

See you in the forums!

iOS 4 battery life, iOS bugs and issues, updated apps, iPad cases, iOS 4.01 – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in Apps, From the Forums, Issues, Regular Features, app store, bugs, iPad iOS 4.01, ios 4, iphone, iphone 4

QuickOffice HD for iPad- app review

June 25th, 2010

This week I am looking at QuickOffice HD for iPad. In my ongoing pursuit of productivity apps, I am very pleased with what is coming out of the development community for iPad. Does QuickOffice HD raise the bar again? Let’s dive right in and take a look.

Getting documents into QuickOffice HD is a relative snap. First you have the familiar ability to sync from iTunes. Just add your documents and when you sync, they appear in the app. However, the more useful feature is the ability to sync to the cloud. QuickOffice supports the basic usual suspects: MobileMe iDisk- both public and private, Google Docs, Dropbox and Box.net. You enter in your login credentials and QuickOffice will sync the folders to your iPad, but not the content. The folder content will give a preview but only load when you access the document. Once accessed, it stored locally. You can also open and save documents from email and that is always a bonus.

Folder navigation is very similar to the Macintosh Finder column view. It is my preferred view on the Mac, so I was very pleased with this and it was instantly familiar to me. You can create new folders with a simple tap of the plus icon and deleting and email documents is a breeze, just tap and hold the document and drag and drop it on the respective email and delete icons on the bottom of the screen.

To open a document you can tap on the name or rename it by tapping the blue arrow indicative in iOS for more information. Navigation within documents is easy and innovative. For example in a document you can pinch out to zoom and you are presented with all of the pages. You can then quickly flick to the end of your document. However, a great alternative is to tap and old on the right side of the screen. You can then slide your finger down and are presented a preview of each page in the document via the Mac OS X dock- style preview with magnification; very, very nice. For the spreadsheet application, pinching also zooms and you are given very convenient selection handles for selecting cells. I prefer the feature over what some competitors offer. There is also nice built-in safety feature; the app auto saves your work every minute. So if you forget to save and close the app, your are safe.

Creating documents and spreadsheets is easy and fun. All of the basic formatting options are available. Bold, colors, fonts, underline, alignment, formats, etc. For any sort of lite editing, this application will fit your needs. However there is one glaring omission: a presentation document. That’s right, QuickOffice HD does not support PowerPoint or any other presentation application document format. This is such a shame as it is very close to being my favorite document creation and editing tool on the iPad. However, not having this support is a a serious hit for me in productivity and the competition has a leg up here. However, Quick Office does so many things right, I find myself going back and forth between iWork for iPad, Documents to Go for iPad and QuickOffice HD depending on what I have to do. Competition is good and all of these apps does something better then the other.

[$9.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

Takes advantage of iPad’s screen real estate
Innovative scrolling methods
Easy interface to understand and use
Opens many other documents, but in view-only

Cons

Missing PowerPoint functionality
Not a lot of advanced features

TiPb iPad 3-star rated

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Posted in App Reviews, App Store Apps, Apps, Reviews, app store, documents, editing, ipad apps, quickoffice

Top 5 apps for your iPhone 4

June 24th, 2010

Today’s top 5 is directed towards iPhone 4 users who want to take full advantage of their new hardware and software. From shooting zombies, to finding your way around town, to keeping yourself entertained on the go, iPhone 4 really does have plenty of apps for all of that. Just like our other top 5 must-have iPhone app posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full run down, follow us after the break!

Twitter for iPhone

What would this top 5 list be without a great social networking application, so of course our top honor would have to go to Twitter for iPhone [Free - iTunes Link]. Discover what’s happening right now in the Twitter universe from all over the world with this application. With a killer UI you get all of the top notch features such as realtime search, top tweets, trending topics and maps. Tweet, send DMs, share photos, videos and links to your friends and the rest of us. And it’s now multitasking friendly.

Alternatives: Facebook for your friends, [iTunes Link - Free], LinkedIn for your colleagues [iTunes link - Free].

Angry Birds

Angry Birds [iTunes Line - $.99 - Free version] is currently the number one paid application in the whole App Store and deservingly so. Angry Birds features hours of gameplay, challenging physics-based castle demolition, and a lot of replay value. Each of the 120 levels requires logic, skill, and some enemy destruction. If you like physics-based games and puzzles do yourself a favor and spend the $.99.

Alternatives: If sending birds through the air to destroy things is not your cup of tea then by all means try Farmville [iTunes Link - Free], Flight Control [iTunes link - $0.99], or Plants vs Zombies [iTunes link - $2.99].

Pandora Radio

If you are a avid Pandora user than look no further than the official Pandora Radio application for iPhone [iTunes Link - Free]. The latest update takes full advantage of iOS 4 with the ability to stream music in the background while using your iPhone 4. Simply create a free account if you do not have one already and log in. In no time you’ll be streaming your existing stations or ones you create on your own.

Alternatives: Slacker Radio offers service in the US and Canada [iTunes link - free]. Anyone know what happened to the Spotify update for our EU friends?

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies

Call of Duty and shooting zombies, does it get much better than that? Not really so it was a no brainer to include a little first person shooter title – Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies [iTunes Link - $9.99] Sure this title is a bit on the expensive side for a iOS game title but it’s brings a lot to the table. With this game you will be able to witness some of the best graphics, sounds, and controls available today for your iPhone 4. Fans of the FPS genre will not be disappointed.

Alternative: Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies 2 [iTunes Link - $9.99] If you own part one you can purchase part two at a discounted price with a in-app purchase. If cars are more your scene, try Real Racing [iTunes link - $4.99]

TomTom Navigation

Last but not least your iPhone 4 is in need of a top of the line GPS navigation application such as TomTom [iTunes Link - US version - $49.99]. With a slew of options and full and up-to-date map is stored on your iPhone 4. This means no cellular signal or data plan is needed to navigate to your destination or even look at maps. Now throw in TomTom’s advanced lane guidance and IQ Routes technology and you have yourself one sweet GPS application. Advanced lane guidance shows you which lane to take at confusing junctions so you don’t miss your turn and IQ Routes technology is what TomTom uses to collect actual speed data from the millions of users to calculate the fastest routes at that particular point in time. So factors such as rush hour, traffic lights, school crossing, train tracks, etc all come into play to calculate the fastest route to get to your destination.

Alternative: Navigon North America [iTunes Link - $79.99] is still waiting on its update, but you can also purchase US maps in 3 different sections – each costing $29.99. If online maps and lower-cost monthly subscriptions are more your thing, try TeleNav powered AT&T Navigator [iTunes link].

Conclusion

Well there you have them, our top 5 iPhone 4 apps to get you started. Be sure to check out our iPhone App and Games Forum for more of our members’ recommendations, and leave yours in the thread — or in the comments below!

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, Games, Regular Features, angry birds, app store, call of duty, iphone 4, pandora, tomtom, top 5, twitter

iOS4 compatible apps hit the App Store (part 3)

June 23rd, 2010

We’ve been keeping our eye out as more iOS4 app updates keep hitting the App Store filled with multitasking, state saving, Retina Display-ing goodness. So pull out your iPhone or get on iTunes and check for updates. Here are some more we’ve seen roll out since our last post.

Hit the jump to see what new ones we’ve found!

Twitter for iPhone

[iTunes Link]

Twitter for iPhone iOS 4

This is a big one for most people as it’s by far one of the most popular Twitter clients for iPhone. Now that it’s become the official client and is available for free, it’s become that much more popular. Twitter for iPhone hasn’t disappointed and rolled out an update that not only supports fast app switching, but resolution support for the new retina display, as well as some bug fixes.

Real Racing by Firemint

[iTunes Link]

Games are what most users are really looking forward to with the new display. Looks like some developers are really starting to take advantage of the new display. Real Racing seems to have redesigned their graphics to take advantage of the iPhone 4’s display. If you’re in the market for a great racing game, this just may be for you.

Here’s what’s included in the update –

New graphics for showing off the retina display with high resolution textures, more detailed car interiors, improved track graphics, beautifully updated menus and exceptionally smooth graphical performance on iPhone 4
More responsive and accurate controls on iPhone 4, with three-axis gyro support in addition to the accelerometer
Smoother graphics on iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3 with iOS4 anti-aliasing
Support for iOS4 multitasking on compatible devices
Bux Fixes

Flight Control by Firemint

[iTunes Link]

Looks like Firemint is really on a roll and updating most of their game selection for iOS4. Most of the updates seem to be in line with those for Real Racing. Enhanced graphics, fast app switching, anti-aliasing, and gyro support. If you’ve never played Flight Control, it’s an incredibly addicting game. If you already have it, go grab the update!

Plants vs Zombies

[iTunes Link]

This is one of my favorite games of all time. If you haven’t picked it up, I highly suggest it. Those of you who currently have it, it’s been updated to support fast app switching in iOS4. Apart from that, I don’t believe the update includes support for the retina display. I’m hoping we’ll see that in a future update.

Trapster

[iTunes Link]

There aren’t very many free navigation apps in the App Store. If you aren’t in the market to spend a lot and want a decent one, Trapster may be for you. It also comes with speed trap alerts. And it comes with support for background navigation. What more could you ask for?

TomTom

[iTunes Link]

I’ve read in several places that users were having issues with TomTom after upgrading to iOS4. TomTom has issued an update to not only fix compatibility issues but adding some great features to support iOS4. So if you upgraded to iOS4, make sure you update so you can continue using TomTom. GPS apps are probably going to improve ten-fold with the release of iOS4. Here’s a list of new and improved TomTom features –

Seamless navigation while calling (3GS and iPhone 4 only)
Newly updated maps
Background navigation instructions
Route Sharing (share route details with contacts via e-mail)
Departure Reminders (add them to your calendar)
Eco Routes (more fuel efficient routes)
Car Symbols (personalize car symbols on your driving screen)

Slacker Personal Radio

[iTunes link]

Slacker Personal Radio for iOS 4

Slacker is right now releasing version 2.1 which supports multitasking for listening to Slacker Radio in the background and offers convenient controls for accessing the app while performing other device functions. Slacker Radio 2.1 for iOS 4 offers:

Support for multitasking
Convenient background play controls
Music library featuring millions of songs
No monthly listening limits
Over 120 professionally programmed genre stations
Create custom stations based on artists or songs
Fine tune stations on-the-fly to play more of the music you like
View artist biographies and photos
View album art and reviews
Pause and skip songs
Rate songs as favorites
Ban the songs and artists you don’t like

If you’re a Slacker Radio Plus subscriber:

Cache stations to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch**
Enjoy Slacker radio stations even without a wireless network
Unlimited song skipping
Ad-free listening
Complete song lyrics†
Unlimited song requests for creating stations
“Peek Ahead” artist and album preview

That’s what we’ve found so far, but if you find any you think deserve a post-up let us know in the comments or send us a tip!

iOS4 compatible apps hit the App Store (part 3) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in 4, App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, app store, app updates, iOS 4 apps, iOS4, iphone, iphone apps

More iOS4 Compatible Apps Hit the App Store

June 21st, 2010

We let you know a couple days ago there were a few apps that had already been updated via the App Store to support iOS4. Since then we’ve seen a few more roll out. Some developers have really taken advantage of the new APIs in iOS4. Others seem to just be adding compatibility at this point. Let’s hope a lot of them are working on substantial updates. Hit the jump for some more iOS4 compatible apps!

Evernote

Evernote (version 3.3.5) is one of the first I’ve seen to implement quite a few 4.0 APIs. Not only does it come complete with fast app switching integration, but your notes will also be able to sync in the background. This will be extremely useful for users who like to upload pictures. I’m always doing this when I’m comparing prices. I’ll take pictures of SKUs from different stores and tag them accordingly which allows me to flip through later and compare which ones are cheaper and which ones have rebates attached, etc. Much easier than writing a note with all that information. The down side to that has always been pictures take a bit to sync with the Evernote servers at times and keeping the app open the entire time was somewhat of a pain. Thanks Evernote! (Read more about Evernote and iOS4 here.) [iTunes link]

For now, it looks like LinkedIn has added support for fast app switching, but I don’t see much more than that at this point. I’d love to see the LinkedIn app get a lot more intuitive than it is. Hopefully they’ll be adding more support in future updates. If you caught anything I didn’t on this one, let us know in the comments! [iTunes link]

Windows Messenger

Not only is this one new to the App Store, it came out of the gate with iOS4 integration built-in. It also supports alerts for Hotmail as well, so you’ll get notifications in-app when you receive new e-mails via your Hotmail account. And again, if you see anything worth noting, let us know! [iTunes link]

Pandora

I know a lot of you have been waiting for this one. This update just hit the app store a few short hours ago. Pandora background streaming was demonstrated at WWDC 2010 and lots of users were excited to be able to allow Pandora to finally run in the background. This feature has been available for other mobile platforms for quite a while. [iTunes link]

Loopt

Loopt is another company that’s taken advantage of additional APIs available behind iOS4. Fast app switching, PNS alerts, and grid based navigation are a few of the features the new version of Loopt offers. [iTunes link]

WordPress

One of the most popular blogging engines on the planet comes out on release iOS release day claiming Retina Display support? Even if they’re just scaling text and UI elements, good on them. [iTunes link]

Know of any other iOS 4 compatible, feature-empowered apps that we may have missed? Drop them in comments and we’ll include them in the next round up.

More iOS4 Compatible Apps Hit the App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Pandora update for iOS 4 now available to download in App Store!

June 21st, 2010

If you are a Pandora user and are currently running iOS 4 on your iPhone or iPod touch then head into the App Store to update the app to version 3.1 which contains the new multitasking feature. Today, at some point, Apple will be releasing iOS 4 to the masses so it is no surprise we will start to see many applications in the App Store updated to be compatible with iOS 4.

So waste no time and take advantage of the latest version of Pandora!

[Thanks to all of you who sent this in!]

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, Music, News, app store, ios 4, multitasking, pandora, update

App updates starting to include iOS 4 compatibility, features

June 17th, 2010

Not only has Apple released iTunes 9.2 to the masses, they seem to be approving and releasing apps updated for iOS 4 compatibility now as well. If you haven’t checked your updates tab in a while, it may be time to tap that App Store icon on your iPhone or check in iTunes.

Out of my 100 or so apps I have installed on my 3GS, I’ve seen about 4 or so apps in the past 12 hours receive updates for iOS 4 compatibility. I’m assuming that number will only grow over the next couple of days as developers ready themselves for the release of iOS 4. Now that doesn’t mean they have any iOS 4 specific features — it just means they’ve been compiled with the iOS 4 SDK.

Some apps will have much more significant updates than others of course. So far I’ve seen updates for apps such as DropBox, Quota, Fandango, FlightTrack and a few others. Quota is touting the fact that it’s supporting the higher resolution of the iPhone 4 in its update straight away. I’m curious to see which other developers will do this straight out of the gate. I hope most do as I can’t wait to run higher resolution applications on my new iPhone 4!

Streaming music, navigation/location, or VoIP (voice over IP) app in the background are some of the big ones of course. Saving state for fast task switching is something we hope is also rolled out quickly and universally.

Hit the break for some screenshots of some I’ve found as well as a video from one of our readers demonstrating the in-app SMS feature Apple has given developers and API for. Thanks Ethan! Any of you find any apps that are running iSO 4 compatibility yet? Leave ‘em in the comments!!

YouTube Link

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Posted in Announcements, App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, News, app store, iOS 4 apps, ios 4, ipad, iphone, updates

Apple Store app for iPhone now in App Store

June 15th, 2010

Looks like Apple has finally released an Apple Store mobile application for the iPhone. I would have thought we’d see this a lot sooner but we all know Apple. Looks like you can not only browse the store, but search for Apple Stores close to you and even make appointments with the Genius Bar.

As of now, it’s only showing up in the US app store, so those of you in other countries, feel free to let us know when you see it show up in yours. Given iPhone 4 pre-order madness is upon us, I can’t access the Apple Store to test it so if it gives you problems just wait a while and try again when the the pre-order insanity dies down.

Jump to the break to see some basic screenshots, and I’ll add more once the Apple Online Store is up and running again.

[iTunes link]

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Apple’s magic developer numbers: 100, 100 million, and 1 billion

June 12th, 2010

We’ve all heard huge numbers thrown around as measures of iPhone and iPad App Store success — over 200,000 apps and 5 billion downloads being some of the most recent and most impressive. There’s a couple of other numbers that are even more interesting when it comes to iPhone and iPad development: 100, 100 million, and 1 billion.

Roughly 100 million iOS devices have been sold to data and they are all broadly software compatible. There’s some fragmentation to be sure — older devices are slower, there’s no cameras (yet) on the iPod touch and iPad, no GPS in iPod touch, iPad Wi-Fi, and the iPhone 2G. Apple mitigates this somewhat by offering services such as CoreLocation where, if no GPS is found, it gracefully degrades down to cell tower triangulation or Wi-Fi router mapping. Even the iPad with its odd-device-out 1024×768 display will frame iPhone apps or pixel double them, which is awkward but still workable, still compatible. When iPhone 4 ships, it will be precisely double the vertical and horizontal pixel count of previous generations, meaning older apps will simply look the same as they did before (using 4 pixels in the space they used to use 1).

Likewise, most iOS devices tend to get updated to the latest version of the OS, or at least fairly recent versions. While iOS 4 will drop compatibility for iPhone 2G and iPod touch G1, it will also be free for all other devices for the first time, ensuring iPod touch G2 and G3 owners are more likely to update.

Everything isn’t perfect, but for a vast majority of apps it doesn’t need to be. They just work.

The sheer size of that install base is stunning. Code an app once and deploy it to a theoretical 100 million devices — and growing — all with a drop-dead-easy to use icon on the home screen to help them get your apps?

That’s where the 100 comes in. One of the single biggest advantages Apple had going into the App Store was iTunes and the ability to process credit cards and handle transaction at an international scale. There are App Stores now in almost 100 countries (could be 100 or more now, I lost count at 96). Making an app for 100 milion devices — even if they were broadly compatible — wouldn’t be anywhere near as enticing if a developer couldn’t sell them to more than 1 or 2 countries (especially for the many, many developers who live in those unserviced countries). Again, the App Store isn’t literally everywhere, and due to local laws and ratings requirements they can’t sell games in in a couple places, or have other restrictions, but also again, for the majority of apps it’s an unmatched opportunity. When you consider Apple does all the processing and delivery heavy lifting for a 30% cut of paid apps, and 0% of free apps, allowing developers to develop and not spend time on managing that themselves, it’s easy to see why many of them jump at the chance.

1 billion dollars paid out to developers, as mentioned in the comments below, makes manifest the potential market size of those 100 million devices in about 100 countries. At day’s end — and financial year’s end — many developers will go where the money is.

There’s one last set of numbers to touch on as well. The iOS SDK frameworks. They provide an incredibly rich set of functionality developers get “for free” when making apps for the iPhone and they don’t exist (as directly portable options) on other platforms. Accelerate alone offers 2000 hardware-powered math API for games. Never mind CoreAnimation, CoreData, Game Center, the UI elements, and everything else that rounds out the kit. If portability isn’t the prime concern, they greatly enhance ease of development.

Apple isn’t wasting the chance to show that off. They just posted a video showcasing developers for developers [QuickTime link -- tip of the hat to 9to5Mac]

The flip side of that, of course, is the trade off in control made for convenience and opportunity. There are certain apps Apple won’t let into their store, and no guarantee they won’t pull an app (or whole class of them) even after they’re in the store. Having humans review apps makes app review subject to human error. Also, for every hit-it-rich app in the store there will be many, many times more that don’t break even.

For developers writing mainstream apps, nowhere near the edge-cases, it will probably never be an issue. Edge-cases, however, are often where some of the most interesting developments come from. Further, if you do use a lot of those API and you want to move to other or multiple platforms, you’re likely in for a lot of recoding, including a lot from scratch.

Palm, with parties, cross-compilers, and the chance for a nice payday, and Google with factually challenged trash-talk at I/O and a lightning fast JIT (just-in-time compiler) and Flash support, aren’t wasting the chance to show that off either.

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iTunes Connect Mobile now in App Store

June 11th, 2010

Apple recently released iTunes Connect Mobile [Free - iTunes Link] which allows registered developers to track app sales and trends. The app is available via the App Store now and is a free download. For developers, this provides an extremely easy way to not only check sales numbers but to see trends on the go.

Simply log in and you’ll get a nice layout that shows you not only your total sales but a breakdown of sales by application. From what I understand, you can see either daily or weekly totals as of right now. As we are currently working on applications and haven’t released any yet, I don’t see any breakdowns. Any developers have any feedback on the breakdown or things you’d like to see in an update?

I think another really neat app idea would be if Apple released an app that let regular users see purchased app histories and showed totals of all iPhone/iPad apps they’ve purchased, as well as a monthly breakdown of what they’re buying. It would be interesting how much users spend on apps in total. After 3 years of using an iPhone, I’d be nervous to see how much I’ve actually spent on apps. Hit the break for some screenshots!

iTunes Connect Mobile now in App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in Announcements, App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, Development, News, Quick Apps, app sales, app store, developers, iTunes, ipad, iphone

100,000,000 iOS devices sold, 5 billion apps downloaded — WWDC 2010 by the numbers

June 8th, 2010

During the WWDC 2010 keynote today, Steve jobs did his usual ~~bragging~~ announcement of the numbers for devices sold, apps downloaded, percent market share, etc.

2 million iPads sold (one every 3 seconds)
iPad available in 10 countries, 19 countries in July
8500 iPad apps in the App Store. These apps have been downloaded over 35 million times which is about 17 apps per iPad.
iBooks sold 5 million books in the first 65 days. That’s about 2 and a half books per iPad.
iBooks is responsible for 22% of eBook sales
Over 225,000 apps in App Store
5 billion downloads from the App Store
Apple has paid out 1 billion dollars to developers
Receive 15,000 app submissions per week. 97% of them are approved within 7 days.
Nielsen reports that smartphone market share is the following: 35% RIM, 28% iPhone, 19% Windows, 9% Android, 9% other.
US mobile usages breakdown: 58.2% iPhone, 22.7% Android, 12.7% RIM, 6.4% other.
150 million credit card accounts between iTunes, App Store, and iBookstore – biggest on the web.
iAds are projected to represent 48% of the mobile advertising market in the second half of 2010.

Are you impressed with any of these numbers?

[image via gdgt]

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Why Apple may be removing desktop/dashboard/widget apps from the App Store

June 3rd, 2010

Since the iPad launch on April 3, TiPb’s been getting tips about desktop/dashboard/widget-style apps being removed first from the iPad App Store, then from the iPhone App Store as well. There are a number of examples, some well known by now, some relatively unknown. The commonality between all of them is that they’ve tried to somehow make the iPad or iPhone into a Mac- or PC-like screen filled with mini-apps like browsers, email clients, calculators, weather, etc.

Some look almost exactly like Apple’s Mac Dashboard, other like Windows of various flavors. Others don’t look like desktops at all but rather place widgets on top of photos or other, more specific backgrounds.

Devs have worked around this by using a much more restricted metaphor, like a double tiled display, or by going the Jailbreak route, or they haven’t worked through it and just gotten frustrated at the opacity of the App Store review process and not known how to proceed.

I can’t claim any special insight or information on this, but my best guess is that Apple is removing (or advising they will be removing since not all of them have been pulled yet) the apps for the same reason they originally didn’t include cursor (arrow) keys on the Mac. It’s a pretty well known story and one that’s been used a few times in different commentaries on the iPhone and iPad and Apple’s direction thereof, but it bears repeating.

The Mac was the mainstream transition from CLI (command-line interface) to GUI (graphical user interface). People had to become comfortable using a mouse to drive the new interface, and Apple felt that if they gave them arrow keys users would just launch text windows, abandon the mouse, and revert to what they were comfortable with at the first opportunity. They’d never learn the new paradigm because they wouldn’t have to. So, like the metaphorical bird, they pushed us out the CLI nest and made us madly flap our GUI wings (or risk crashing).

The iPhone and now iPad mark a similar mainstream transition from GUI to multitouch user interface (I’m not calling it MUI). The iPad’s display is bigger, but Apple doesn’t want it treated like an old-fashion PC or Mac desktop, and they don’t want apps in the App Store that encourage users to treat the iPhone or iPad like desktops.

Developers who have invested time and money into building those apps get crushed, of course, and Apple really has to figure out a better way of advising people which apps are on the “unforeseen” list as soon as they can possibly foresee them. I’m not defending Apple’s process or policy here — as I said I have no idea if I’m even right about the reason — I’m just trying to figure it out. Curation isn’t bad, but bad curation is chilling.

Users also will no doubt be upset they can’t get these apps, just as users were probably upset Apple didn’t include arrow keys on the original Mac. I don’t know if Apple realizes that and just banks on having enough momentum and cool tech that users will once again forgive an App Store removal in light of what still remains and is coming. (That bank of user good-will isn’t limitless, however, and I certainly hope Apple realizes that).

[Yes, or Apple could be getting ready to announce their own widget platform for iPhone OS as a special feature for that large-resolution iPhone HD/iPhone 4G at WWDC 2010. Those types of things are always possible.]

Why Apple may be removing desktop/dashboard/widget apps from the App Store is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, Development, Editorial, app store, dashboard, desktop, ipad apps, iphone apps, rejected apps, state of the apps, widget

Getting your international iPad today? Happy with iPad? Top iPad apps? Not interested in iPad? – From the Forums

May 28th, 2010

From the Forums is a great way to see all of the hot topics in our iPhone and iPad forums. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

International iPad customers still waiting for your device to be delivered? Still waiting? If you’re standing in line, add a picture, if you’re waiting for a delivery, tell us when it arrives, if you just got !
Since most of you have had your iPad for some time now or even if you’ve just gotten it – are you happy with iPad?
What are your top 5 iPad applications?

For those of you who do not own a iPad, lets address two popular iPhone threads:

See you in the forums!

Getting your international iPad today? Happy with iPad? Top iPad apps? Not interested in iPad? – From the Forums is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Barnes & Noble introduces BN eReader for iPad

May 27th, 2010

The iPad eBooks war just got a bit more interesting with Barnes & Noble releasing their BN eReader for iPad into the App Store today. With the following features we are curious to see what adjustments Apple makes to iBooks, and Amazon with the Kindle in the near future.

Exclusive LendMe technology that lets you share eBooks with friends using any of our free BN eReader apps or NOOK eBook readers
LendMe allows you to grab friends’ addresses right from your existing iPad contacts
Free safe and secure library keeps your eBooks accessible for years and years to come
Ready to read in your library:
Ten free samples of current best sellers (with new accounts)
Three free classics
Free samples of any eBook
Adjustable font size so you can make the text as big as you want for reading ( 10 different sizes)
Multiple font types—so you pick the typeface you prefer
Background and text color options for easy reading in any light
Use our professionally designed themes or create your own
Tap or swipe to turn pages
Browse your library visually with big, beautiful color covers or in iPad style “list view” (like Apple’s Mail app)
Synchronize your notes, highlights and current reading position with BN eReader for PC (and our forthcoming update to iPhone)
24/7 shopping — no waiting
Free Merriam-Webster’s Pocket Dictionary is built right in so you don’t leave the page when looking up a word

If you have given this a try let us know what you think in the comments below! Should Apple and Amazon be worried?

[iTunes Link - Free]

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iPad live podcast #5 – The Google Strikes Back

May 24th, 2010

NOTE: iPad Live! now has its own RSS and iTunes feeds! Subscribe now via the links above.

iPad can now be bought with cash, is the iPad getting a camera flash, on-device iPad App Store and iBookstore go across the border, and Google goes way, way out of order. With Rene, Leanna, and Georgia. Listen in!